Destiny Intwined
by A Rabid Zombie
Summary: Not good with summaries- sorry. Kilik is sent out from his home to recover a fragment of Soul Edge and must battle against the demon of the blade as well as the darkness in his heart. Rated M for later chapters. Siegfried/Kilik Slight AU.
1. The Insomniac Child

A/N: Alright, real quick, it has been a looooooooong time since I've written and posted any fanfiction. Long enough that I'm using a different pen-name than I used to (huzzah x3 ). So, yeah, throwing this out there: I'm a wordy person (in case that wasn't already obvious) and it shows in my writing. This fic is kind of AU; it takes place in the present, but still has the cursed blades and people fighting over them, so there's that. It was born out of an rp that I had started with a friend that died off before I was ready to let it die. IF ANYONE HAS ANYTHING AGAINST GAY ROMANCE, THIS IS PROBABLY NOT THE FIC FOR YOU. In later chapters, there will be guys falling in love (as well as girls and guys falling for each other, but that's beside the point). If anyone is offended by that, turn back now. I feel I've taken up enough of your time with my babbling, so I'll end this with a quick thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters. I don't even own Zhang He, who I'm borrowing from Dynasty Warriors- which I also do not own.

ONE:

The Insomniac Child

The incense burned slowly, a thin trail of smoke steadily rising and curling and floating away making little curls and loops in the air as it rose and dissipated, scenting the air. In the slivers of silver light that leaked into the dark room from the cracks in the tired wooden sealing, the sight was entrancing. The smoke dance and the calming smell of the air was enough to lull the lone monk laying on his back in the middle of the worn chamber into a state of relaxation that teetered between meditation, dream, and consciousness.

Half lidded brown eyes fallowed the trails of smoke, occasionally loosing focus or being covered by drooping eyelids for short periods of time before returning to the bits of gray that moved amongst the moonlight with a grace that the monk could only attempt to imitate as he trained. His breathing was deep and even and his mind was drifting as carelessly and unpredictably as the smoke. Thoughts of the past. Thoughts of the future. Thoughts of the current. Questions. Observations. Aspirations. He had always had a quick mind, always one of the brightest amongst his peers. That may have been why sleep eluded him so often. He couldn't stop _thinking_. Even while his body lay prone in a spell cast by moonlight and smoke, his mind couldn't stop.

"Still awake, Kilik?" The sudden voice made the youth jump, his body suddenly as awake as it was when he stole away into the chamber earlier. It was the voice of Zhang He; one of his teachers. His favorite one. "Do not be surprised when you're too tired to focus and get hurt again."

The younger of the two tore his eyes away from the smoke and sat up to look behind himself at his teacher. He smiled nervously, a slight pink staining his cheeks in embarrassment at being caught, "It isn't a lack of sleep that gets me hurt." He stood and stretched with his arms above his head as his entire body lengthened and loosened, "Between myself and my opponent, I would rather hurt then them." It wasn't the normal way of thinking, but it was how the young monk was. He had been told that he would grow out of it and see that, sometimes, other had to be hurt.

The older of the two was leaning against the frame of the door with all the relaxed grace and observant eyes of some great feline. Dancing in those dark, knowing eyes, was some kind of joy that Kilik did not understand. The feeling was echoed in his smirking lips. He was still clad in the clothing he had been wearing the day before, his hair was still in its usual high pony-tail and hanging carelessly, ending at his lower back, he was still covered in dust from being outside with his students all day. Despite that, there was still something about him that didn't look ruffled at all. As though, even if clad in filthy rags, he would seem regal.

Those dark brown eyes seemed to look through the ten year old of the too as Zhang He spoke, "I know." He strode over to where his student had been laying and lowered himself to the ground; if it had been anyone else, the motion would have been a careless flopping, but it managed to look elegant when the older of the pair did it. "You're gentle."

"...you are not going to tell me to go to bed or..." Kilik didn't want to finish that thought, but his mind continued even as his lips stopped moving. They were strict, the Elders, and older ones like Zhang He were supposed to carry out punishment even if the Elders themselves were not around or informed of the transgression. Being awake would not have been punished, but creeping out of the room where Kilik and others of his age group slept into a the large circular chamber usually reserved for meditation and prayer would ended in pain and bleeding and learning exactly how hard bamboo can be upon one's back.

He was answered by a deep chuckle, "Your sticks have yet to burn out and I do not feel right allowing such an ideal environment for deep thought and insight to go to waste."

"Thank you, Seifu." The phrase was softly spoken, but there was no other sound and the words, as well as the relief they held, were clearly heard.

Kilik's attempt to simulate the older man's graceful decent was less than successful, but he wasn't completely foolish looking when he did it. Still, he already knew that he would work to improve. In everything he did, Kilik tried to be like his teacher, but he knew that it would take years before he could even come close. One day, he would. He knew it. He simply had to work harder. Train harder. Be more diligent. More disciplined.

The two stayed on the floor next to each other, watching the smoke as it continued its lazy trails into oblivion. Neither felt the need to speak and break the comfortable silence that had settled back into the room, each lost in their own thoughts as the sticks burnt down and the moon moved across the sky in its steady pace. The smoke, like all else in life, did not last forever and their time in that dark room came to an end a couple hours after it had began.

As Kilik thought about his training and what he would need to do to become like his teacher, said teacher was thinking about the conversation he had had with the Elders earlier. They wanted him to take the spirit of the blessed blade, Soul Calibur, into his body. He remembered what happened the last time they attempted to give the spirit of the blade a body- but it wasn't a living host. It was ripped out of living flesh; a body of its own. It didn't last. No matter what they tried, it couldn't sustain itself. They concluded that they needed a body with a soul for the blade. One that would not fight Soul Calibur's influence. One that would sacrifice itself in order to have a defense against its twin that was being guarded in the bowels of the temple. Zhang He had accepted under a single condition and was told that this would be his last night as himself. In return for giving his body to the blade, he asked that Kilik be removed from the normal routines when he was old enough, and placed under Zhang He's tutelage so that, one day, the young monk could take his teacher's place. The next body for the blessed blade, in case anything happened to him. The Elder's agreed to this plan; they even thought it was for the best, having sensed the boy's _talents_ in the realm of such things.

Originally, the older man was going to tell his student what was going to happen and make sure the child knew it was for the best and that, deep down, Zhang He would still be himself but, when he saw the kid laying there, thinking and looking much older than he should have, he could not bring himself to say anything which might upset the child. Kilik would not have wanted to accept the possibility of his teacher being possessed and no longer being himself.

Zhang He was the first to stand when the smoke finally stopped, with the same ease and grace as every other move he made. He looked down to see if his student would imitate his movements again and did not bother suppressing a small smile when he realized the young monk was asleep. "Better you sleep now than during training tomorrow," the older of the pair murmured as he bent down and lifted the boy in his arms.

Kilik was small, even for his age. Light. More like a stick doll than a boy, really; but he had yet to break as some of the others Zhang He had seen. Even when the Elder's had Kilik spar with children older, stronger, bigger than himself, the boy did not break. Of course, Zhang He knew why they did it to the boy. It was not out of malice, but necessity. It was clear that Kilik was not as proficient in sparring as he was in simply training, going through the motions. At first, everyone thought it was fear that held him back, then the Elders thought it was something that they could make the child grow out of if they simply pushed him hard enough. Zhang He hoped they were wrong, for his student's sake.

As he silently made his way to the children's sleeping quarters, he thought about himself at that age. He hadn't been small like this one; in fact, he had been a little taller than average. Leaner. He didn't want to hurt anyone, either. The Elder's had made him train with those they knew he could defeat but would beat him time and again until his will broke. He fought back as they wished to keep himself from hurting. He caused them pain to save himself as the Elder's wanted. Not enough to make them useless, but enough to win the match. The monk had felt that part of himself that would rather hurt than cause pain shrivel and thought it had been lost forever until he saw the small boy who had been the fastest, the first to perfect stances and moves, hold back during matches and allow himself to be beaten instead of striking his enemies.

The Elders were correct in their beliefs that one who does not fight back is doomed to hurt. They were correct when they said that Kilik would either learn to do things their way or he would eventually be severely hurt; or worse. Still, Zhang He wanted to protect his student's innocence for as long as he could. Perhaps, that was why he made the choices he did in regards to both his, and this boy's, path.

He laid the child down on the worn blanket Kilik always slept on and gently brushed a few stray strands of brown from his sleeping face. He looked peaceful. Zhang He straitened himself out and quickly left the room. He, too, would have to get some sleep before facing the day ahead.


	2. The Restless Youth

A/N: On to the second chapter! Thank you to anyone who has read this far and I hope this chapter (as well as the one that came before it) does not (did not . ) disappoint. For anyone who is curious: Siegfried will show up later. I promise. I hate when relationships feel too rushed. Thanks, again! :D

Disclaimer- I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters. I also do not own Zhang He, who I stole from Dynasty Warriors- which I also stole.

TWO:

The Restless Youth

The soft silver light of the moon was diffused by a thick mist, making the very atmosphere feel surreal to those caught within. It was the perfect time and place for peaceful meditation, especially with everyone else far away, inside their designated areas of the temple, sleeping. The monk sat alone with his legs folded, eyes closed, back strait, his chest steadily rising and falling with each deep breath. His body was in a state of relaxation. His mind, however, was racing. His focus was mostly on the events of the last six years which lead into the current moment.

His teacher was possessed by something the Elders were sure was the earthly manifestation of good. Kilik had been chosen to be trained to some day succeed him in housing the spirit of Soul Calibur that he kept within. The young monk had spent years training exclusively under his teacher, but this was no longer Zhang He. The man who was teaching him of spiritual energy and of purification could not have been the same man who had helped raise him. There was a cruelty in his teacher's eyes. Things were much more strict and clear cut for this man than they were for his teacher.

Kilik knew that he would one day become the same. Whenever Zhang He's body could no longer go on. In the six years he had spent with this new Zhang He, he had come to realize that Soul Calibur did not represent good the way the Elders believed it did. At its core, it was still a blade- a tool for destruction. It existed for that purpose alone. The main difference between the evil blade and this was that this was concerned only with destroying the evil blade and Soul Edge was, from what Kilik had heard, concerned with destroying everything. Both lead to destruction. Kilik did not want to destroy anything. He hated causing pain, even if it was to punish the wicked. Still, he knew of no one at the temple 'wicked' enough to justify what Zhang He did to some of the others when he was feeling restless and they did anything to give him an excuse to punish them.

The thought of becoming that... _thing _was terrifying to the teenage monk. Thoughts of whether or not he would still think and feel as he does floated through his mind, as well as whether or not the process itself would hurt. A small shudder ran through the young man's frame, the only movement aside from heavy breathing. Kilik wanted to think about these things as much as he wanted to be fated to experience them.

"Hey!" An obnoxious, youthful voice sounded from behind the monk, but it was a welcome distraction from his meditations. Kilik knew that voice all too well- it was the only child who would willingly talk to him. "What're you doing out here? Don't you ever eat?"

Xiba was six years younger than Kilik and an orphan much like the monk. Most of the others had been sent to the temple for one reason or another, but these two were just found and taken in. On that level, they had something in common. They were both outcasts of sorts. Kilik was separated from his peers by his duties as Zhang He's apprentice. Xiba was ostracized by his complete lack of discipline or interest in the life and routine of a monk. Such things had gotten the younger punished many times- usually by Zhang He, who seemed to be disgusted by the boy. That was how they met.

Kilik had, on several occations, tended to the boy's wounds after punishment while trying to talk him into behaving better and convince him that the demon- Zhang He's unofficial nickname amongst the younger ones- wasn't all bad. Xiba didn't seem to believe that, but he always looked up to Kilik for reasons the teenager didn't understand.

Light brown eyes slowly opened, having to blink in the morning sunlight as the older of the pair stood- his younger self would have been amazed with the grace he had in such a simple action. He did not realize he had spent the entire night thinking again. A small smile spread as he turned to face the boy, "I was meditating. Something you would do well to practice."

"Yeah, well..." Xiba shrugged, "That's boring. I want to run around and climb trees and have fun and stuff!"

Kilik reached out, ruffling soft brown hair that was almost a shade darker than his own, but still lighter than his teacher's, "I know."

The child battered Kilik's hand away with a scowl, "No you don't! You wouldn't know fun if it hit you in the face!"

This brought a chuckle from the other and a small shake of the head, "I know what fun is. I also know that duty comes before fun."

"That's dumb," Xiba crossed his arms, "Anyways, the demon was looking for you." He shivered at the thought of the possessed monk, then waved it away as though the hand motion could drive away such things, "See, Xianglin's sick or something, and he was going to take over for her today, but he says he does 'not feel the need to waste time one such _things_'," the boy did his best to imitate Zhang He's voice. "I figured you'd be out here again, so I wanted to warn you."

"Again?" Kilik rose a brow.

Xiba shrugged, "Yeah, well... I can't sleep sometimes and I sometimes sneak out to go on walks and stuff, and you're always out here at night... and sometimes, you're still here in the morning. Since you weren't eating, I just figured, you know?"

Insomnia seemed to be another thing the pair shared. The teenager smiled and opened his mouth to reply, but any words that may have come out were interrupted by a deeper voice just beyond where the pair were standing.

"Kilik." Zhang He approached the two with his usual confident stride, his long hair moving behind him like the tail of a great cat, "Watch over the children today and make sure they act as they are supposed to." He stopped a few feet away from the pair, staring at Xiba, "...what is _that_ doing out here? It should be inside with the others."

The youngest amongst them moved to stand behind Kilik with an audible gulp. Absently, Kilik rested his hand on the child's head as he spoke to his teacher. "He came here to inform me you were looking for me. There is no harm in that, is there?"

A slender brow arched, "I see." He shook his head, "The children are awaiting you in the courtyard." Without another word, the tall man turned on his heel and strode away, his ponytail still swinging behind him.

"Of course." Kilik replied with a bow, even though he knew the other would not see it. He smiled down at the child, "Let's go, Xiba."

The pair walked together to the courtyard, the young one talking almost nonstop about whatever thought happened to cross his mind while the older simply nodded from time to time and occasionally said something in the return. When they arrived, Xiba ran into his place and the children went through the motions of the day under Kilik's watchful gaze. He could tell which ones were restless, which were focused; who would do well when sparring and who would not, based on their movements. It was almost a shame to see so many who would live this secluded life, especially Xiba, but it was fate and there was nothing Kilik could do for them but watch and instruct them as best he could when the opportunity for such things arose.


	3. The Midnight Teacher

A/N: This might be one of the gayest chapter names ever. Whoops. (I've got nothing better, sorry. :P ) Anyways, before anyone gets worried, there won't be any awkward Xiba being molested by Kilik because that whole pedo thing... I'm really not down with that, yo. Also, for anyone who is curious, yes this is totally a Kilik/Siegfried. No, Siegfried has not shown up yet. Its a pacing thing and a very slow pace, indeed. For anyone reading this (holy shit... people read this?) I hope you enjoy it and aren't too upset at my (slow) pace for this story. :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters. I don't even own Zhang He, who I'm borrowing from Dynasty Warriors- which I also do not own.

THREE:

The Midnight Teacher

Another sleepless night found Kilik in the same place it usually did- meditating outside in his favorite spot. He would have been content to stay like that for the rest of the night and well into the morning if it weren't for his mind drifting back to something Xiba had said to him weeks ago when the two had last spoken to each other. Slowly, brown eyes opened and the monk looked around. Sure enough, there was a young man standing near the Temple, staring at him. The older of the two answered with a small smile of his own.

Standing, Kilik approached the boy, "You're having trouble sleeping again?"

"Yeah," Xiba shrugged, glancing away, "You aren't gonna tell on me, are you?"

"If any child is found up and about when they should be sleeping, it is supposed to be reported," the older monk gave a small shrug, "But I'll tell you what. Take a walk with me and I'll consider it some late night training. Deal?"

The young of the two snorted, "Yeah, I guess that sounds better than getting punished or the demon finding out."

Without another word, Kilik motioned at the younger man to fallow him and started to make his way away from the Temple, towards the gates. Xiba trailed behind him at first, cautiously glancing behind to make sure no one was going to suddenly appear and catch them. As he became more comfortable that there were no boogieman lurking after them, the younger of the two got closer to Kilik until he was walking next to the older monk.

Said monk allowed a small smile to grace his features as the younger got closer and closer to him. He could understand the boy's worry, but that didn't make it less amusing. Xiba probably expected Kilik to push all the blame on him if the two were caught. That wouldn't happen. Kilik was a monk and he was Zhang He's apprentice, but that did not mean he was willing to stand by and allow the child to be punished for being naturally restless and curious.

"We're leaving?" Xiba's voice was smaller than Kilik had ever heard, more unsure of himself than his usual loud complaining or questioning or whatever he said to his teachers in front of all the other children. He was nervous and doing a terrible job of hiding it, if he was even trying.

Kilik gave a small nod, "You aren't allowed to be wandering around the Temple at night, so we aren't going to be wandering around the Temple."

"...we're not allowed to leave, either..."

"Are you afraid?"

The boy's face scrunched up, clearly unhappy, "No way!"

The older of the two nodded, his smile widening, "Good."

In silence, the two continued to the gates. Years ago, there had been people guarding the gates at all times, but those times had long since passed. There were no longer warriors seeking to steal the cursed blade that was hidden deep within the sacred walls of their home, nor was anyone searching for the holy blade. The days of swords and souls were long since forgotten by the worries and ambitions of the modern world that held no need or desire for the spiritual weapons that had been so important to the past. The two could stand in front of the gates, could leave the place that had been the only home either knew, without fear of being seen or stopped. Zhang He had been disgusted by the lack of discipline or dedication to the protection of the Temple, but Kilik was thankful.

"I couldn't call this training if I did not make this difficult for you," the monk said, looking over the large wooden gates that stood, closed and daring any man to try to open them. He knew that it took several to get them open, but he had no intention of opening anything. "Fallow me."

The first time Kilik had stolen out of the Temple at night, he had been about Xiba's age. He knew the boy was not too small to use the method he had used back then. He did not wait for Xiba to say anything in protest before sauntering up to one of the trees that had been growing near the gates since long before either of them could remember, most likely long before either of them arrived at the Ling-Sheng Su Temple.

Kilik climbed from branch to branch up the tree, knowing that he would be out of sight of the younger of the two if Xiba didn't fallow him, but the sound of movement behind him put that worry to rest. The larger of the two continued up until he got to a high branch that he had used time and again to get over the wall. He was high enough up that jumping to the ground would be very painful for anyone who did not know how to do it, and he had the feeling that Xiba would not be able to copy him without harming himself, so Kilik went with what he did when he was younger. He leaped straight out with his arms outstretched, easily catching the limb of another tree on the other side of the massive walls that separated the monks from the rest of the world. The momentum of the jump was enough to swing him forward so that, once he released the branch, he was able to make a graceful arc through the air before landing on another branch. He had not done it that way in years and was somewhat surprised that he did not fall. The brunette climbed down the tree to get to the ground and waited for his young companion to join him.

Leaves above the monk rustled and it did not take long for the child to climb down, his face set in a giant grin and his eyes shining with excitement and amusement.

"That was so cool!" So far away from anyone who might hear and get angry, Xiba was unafraid to speak with his usual enthusiasm.

Having someone else around was unusual, especially someone who spoke. Kilik spent any time not with his master in silent meditation or doing other things alone. When there was someone around, it was more often than not Zhang He- and the possessed man did not often talk more than a few words. After so many years of that, Kilik had a hard time talking to others; he never knew what to say outside of the almost scripted interactions in the Temple.

"There is more," Kilik said simply. He wasn't sure what else to say to the child, so he instead turned and started walking again.

"Like what?" Xiba was practically dancing around the older man, excited to be out on an adventure with one of the coolest of the older kids- everyone else was lame and would have made him go back to bed or something. "Will we get to see other Temples or something? How often do you leave like this? Next time you go, take me with you again, alright?" It was clear the child was more than happy for the change of scenery.

The brunette shrugged, "There is a small town some distance away. There is not enough time for that place tonight."

No, there would not be enough time for that. They would be able to make it to the town and back before anyone else woke up, but he knew the child would want to explore and that would take time that they would not have. Not that Kilik had ever found much interesting in a town full of sleeping people, but he had the feeling that the young monk would find something there to amuse himself. No, that would have to wait for another night. For the current, he had a place in mind to show the child that would probably be just as interesting to the youth.

Xiba continued to speak, asking questions that Kilik gave short answers to or telling stories of things that had happened that things they passed on the way reminded him of. It was nice having someone around who wasn't possessed by the embodiment of 'good' and looking to punish everyone for everything. Kilik had never been so talkative as a child, but he had been, in his own way, as excited about life as Xiba was. Part of him wondered if his teacher had ever been like that. It was the same part of him that wondered if he would ever end up like Zhang He; if Zhang he was even still in there somewhere. That thought made the older of the two uneasy, but he didn't have long to dwell on such things before they arrived at the place he had been leading them to.

The trees around them gave way to a circular field that had a lake settled in the middle. It was not as large as the one that sat within the temple walls, but it was deeper- Kilik had tested that. There were twenty wooden poles sticking up from the water, leading to a large stone in the middle of the water. Fireflies danced around the lake carelessly. It was a sight that had been amazing to Kilik when he first saw it and, from the look on his companion's round face, it was as captivating to the youth as it had been to the monk.

"Zhang He used to take me out here at night," Kilik explained, "We used to train out here."

Xiba shook his head in disbelief as he walked passed the older monk to the water, "The demon took you out here? No way! Unless the Elders said it was ok to come out here." He dipped his foot into the water, disturbing the crystalline surface with sudden ripples, "That's no fair! How come you guys get to do that and the rest of us have to train in the stupid Temple?"

Kilik shook his head, striding over and easily leaping from one wooden post to the next to get to the middle. The posts themselves weren't very wide, but they had been made that way to make balancing more difficult. "We didn't get permission. This was when I was younger. Zhang He has..." he wasn't sure how to explain it to the child without making him more weary of 'the demon' than he already was, "...changed since then."

The child had watched Kilik get to the walk and grinned. He didn't give much thought to the other's words about Zhang He and instead decided that he wanted to get to that rock, too. Xiba tried to do exactly what he had seen Kilik do, but succeed only in losing his balance on the second post and falling in the water, further upsetting the calm surface of the lake and causing the fireflies to flutter away for a moment.

When Xiba surfaced, he looked up to find the man he had decided, in that moment, was his new mentor smiling down at him from the rock, still dry and surrounded by fireflies. He looked so cool in that moment! Not at all like all the grumpy or serious or angry older people at the Temple. Xiba never wanted to be like them, but Kilik was different.

"Try again." Kilik's voice was not loud, but there was a gentle force in it, almost challenging the young monk. He knew Xiba would take the challeng.

"I'll get it next time!"

The next try was a failure. As was the one after that. And the one after that. That night, he never made it farther than the seventh pillar. After falling, Xiba surfaced in time to watch his mentor calmly, swiftly, go from the rock back to the shore. He held his hand out to help Xiba out of the water, the smile never once leaving his features.

"Calm yourself and you'll make it." Kilik repeated the words he had been told as a child and hoped they would help the child as they had helped him, "Do not focus on the length or the difficulty of the journey; think only of the end point and travel with faith in your ability to make it without falling."

"...right," Xiba said quietly, wide eyed at the monk. If every lesson could be taught like that, instead of with someone who yelled or scowled or told him to be more disciplined or to try harder or to be like all the other kids, he would probably try harder.

"That is enough for tonight. We need to return to the Temple." He turned and started back for the place the pair called home with his new student fallowing behind him. "We will continue to come out here until you can make it. Would you like that?"

Xiba grinned as water dripped from his hair and clothing, his feet leaving a wet trail away from the lake, "Yeah! I'll get it next time! Just you wait!"

Kilik nodded, admiring the child's enthusiasm. He wanted to protect Xiba from ever losing that excited innocence. He knew that this would help give Xiba something to look forward to, as well as make him more agile and, hopefully, teach him a level of serenity that will help him when he sparred against the other children. He would help teach Xiba the way he had been helped when he was younger so that, even if he did end up like his master, Kilik will have at least one person who could look at whatever he will become without fear and with a memory of the man he had been.


	4. The Falling Monk

A/N: In all honesty, I'm really proud of this chapter, as disoriented and bleh as it seems. Its a short one. To anyone reading, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein. I don't even own Zhang He, who I'm borrowing from Dynasty Warriors- which I also do not own.

FOUR:

The Falling Monk

The sun had yet to rise, or maybe it had risen at some point and was merely hidden behind the dark clouds that blanketed the sky as far as the eye could see. It was impossible for Kilik to tell as he was lead away from the only home he had known. Around him, the wind was howling its displeasure and the rain was falling with enough force to drown out what was being said to him. The angry forms of the Elders could be barely made out in front of him, save for during the moments when lightning flashed across the sky and lit everything up in a blinding light before the world plummeted back into darkness with almost dizzying speed. The fallowing roar of thunder was the only thing to overpower the aggravated pitter-patter of the rain drops as they assaulted everything unfortunate enough to be caught under the black clouds.

The monk was frowning, trying to remember what had happened. He had been... there was fighting... yelling... blood... had he been involved? Where was Zhang He? What was happening? Everything from his head to his feet to parts of him deep down that he had never been really aware of were in pain and cold and he wasn't sure if he was shivering because it was cold or for some other reason. It was winter. Or was it summer? Spring? Fall? He couldn't remember. Thinking made his skull feel as though something was pounding away at it from within, trying to break out.

He tried not to think as he dumbly fallowed the figures in front of him. Walking was harder than it should have been. Swaying on his feet was impossible to avoid. Breathing was labored and painful. He had to keep going, he knew that, but he did not know why. A few times, the monk stumbled as he fallowed the men before him. He was unable to catch himself one of the times and found himself on his knees; it had been impossible to keep from vomiting at that point, as though there were things in his body that were trying to escape with... what was that? There was no food... was there any food in his stomach to come up? When had he last eaten? Was he hungry? Should he have been? There was a taste in his mouth that was both sickeningly and delightfully familiar.

A hand on his arm dragged him up from the red puddle in front of him. He was having trouble focusing. Who was it holding him up? Helping him move? Or were they dragging him? Did he want to move? No. He was being forced. Kilik wasn't sure if he should fight back or not. Everything was in so much pain.

He shouldn't want to fight. He had been fighting all night. All day? Was any of that true? He couldn't remember. There were flashes of things in his head that he could not be sure were real. Faces. Voices. Yelling. Pain. Movement. The past swam in his vision, fighting with the current for dominance. Everything was blurring together in a mixture of colors and he wasn't sure he could continue onward. But... he had to, didn't he? There was something important happening. Part of him was sure of it. It was the only thing any bit of him was sure of, but he had no clue what the important thing was.

His head was killing him. He couldn't feel his limbs anymore. His chest... his heart... was it beating? It felt as though a hand were squeezing it. Or heat. Something. Was he even still walking? It was still raining, wasn't it? He couldn't tell. He couldn't tell anything. Somewhere very far away, Kilik heard screaming. On some level, the monk recognized the screaming voice as his own. Could he ever stop the ragged sounds from his throat? But it couldn't be... it sounded so far. So very far away.

He was drifting farther by the second. Farther from himself. Farther from the figures in front of him. It was as though his body were moving away and he was still on the ground expelling red liquid that tasted horribly delightful from his body. Except that wasn't true. He wasn't sure it wasn't true. Kilik couldn't have been sure of much of anything as his jumbled thoughts and feelings slid away from him and everything was slowing down around him and the colors were blurring together and blending in and bleeding away until there was only blackness and numbness and a kind of fear that he had never felt before that he was sure would last for eternity unless he could... could... unless... unless... useless...


	5. The Unsure Son

A/N: I was going to wait until Friday to post this, but then I actually checked my e-mail and realized that I had gotten a few reviews from ThalieXVII and it made my day! Since I'm so happy that someone actually bothered to read my writing (extra thank-you points for reviewing and being so awesome!) I decided to post this chapter a few days early. Hopefully the length will make up for how short the last one was and kind of explain what happened. Anything sill 'wtf' will be addressed in later chapters, don't worry! I hate loose ends, but every explanation has a time and place. As always, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein. I don't even own Zhang He, who I'm borrowing from Dynasty Warriors- which I also do not own.

FIVE:

The Unsure Son

The world slithered back like an unhurried serpent, starting with a cold that began deep in the center and expanded to the edges, chased by a fine tremor that ran through everything. This was fallowed by the gradual return of feeling as Kilik rediscovered his body. It was as though he had been separated from it, drowned in some abyss that he had to climb out of. As though he were rising up into himself once again. His brain remembered he had limbs. He was a physical body. He could move.

His chest heaved, suddenly taking in air. Too much air. He was drowning in it, but he couldn't stop. He needed it. All at once, there wasn't enough and there was too much and there was nothing Kilik cold do to calm the sudden and jerky and too fast rise and fall of his chest as he tried to remember how breathing was supposed to work. His mind couldn't handle it. Couldn't handle anything.

There was something building inside of the young monk, threatening to spill out. Some part of him recognized it was a scream, loud and animalistic and frightened and challenging and everything that was cornered or caged or desperate for life. Before the sound could rip free from his lips, something clamped over his mouth.

It was then that Kilik's eyes flew open. They were too wide and attempting to take in too much too quickly. He forced to close them again, and had to focus on keeping them closed before he could peek an eye open. Slowly. He did not want to hurt himself again if it could be avoided. The monk slowly lifted one eyelid, and then the other. It was so bright and it hurt, but he could deal with it. He had been raised by a man who made sure he could function under pain, after all.

Slowly, but surely, the brightness faded into normalcy and Kilik could see again. He had no clue where he was, but he recognized the worried brown eyes staring into his own. A girl from the Temple. She had been like a sister to him when he was younger. She had even tried to stay close and protect him whenever she thought he needed it as he grew older.

"Xianglin." The word was muffled by the hand that was clamped over his mouth, the one that had kept him from yelling.

"Kilik." She smiled at him, but she looked so tired. Slowly, her hand fell away from his mouth, "You're finally awake. I was afraid I had lost you to the curse again."'

His throat was in so much pain and he coughed a little before he could finally get out one word- it was the most important one he could find in what she had said. "Curse?"

She nodded gravely, "We were attacked at the Temple, or so the Elders say. You, me, a few others. Someone tried to steal Soul Edge."

"Did..." he coughed a few more times, shaking his head and taking a few deep breaths before continuing, "...did they...?" His voice was quiet and clearly pained from the effort of talking.

"No." The young woman shook her head, "But... you and I are the only cursed ones to survive. The rest..." The words trailed off, but both knew where they were leading. "Soul Calibur... Zhang He was supposed to finish us off. He couldn't."

Kilik's brow knit in confusion. He could not remember his master ever shrinking away from duty and he could not believe that either of them had been able to fight the possessed man off.

Seeing his unasked question, Xianglin continued, "Though they did not steal the entire sword, they were able to get away with a small bit. It as that bit that we were cut with; it was how the curse made its way inside of us. You and I aren't allowed back until we retrieve it."

"...not... allowed...?"

It was then that Kilik's brain realized he wasn't in the Temple. He was sitting in a western style chair. A sudden wave of unease and nausea fell upon the monk, who groaned and would have gotten up if his companion hadn't stopped him.

* * *

In a small office filled with computers, a lone man sat, slumped in his chair, asleep. For a moment he almost looked peaceful, but that moment was short lived. His features contorted into a worried frown before he awoke suddenly.

Brown eyes blinked as they tried to take in his surroundings. The only light was from the monitors that surrounded him on three sides and a few stray sunbeams that were leaking in through the only window in the room, despite the blinds the man had put up. It took a moment for him to remember where he was, what he was doing, and that he was completely alone. The dreams were getting more frequent, Kilik could not deny that. It was almost as bad as the first few months after losing Xianglin.

Things that he had tried very hard not to think about for years were starting to come back. The former monk had thought that he had gotten over such things years after leaving his home, when the dreams finally grew fewer and far between before stopping altogether. Apparently, he had been wrong. Kilik was not sure what was bringing about the resurgence of his memories, but he was not happy with it. The piece of Soul Edge was, as far as he was concerned, missing. He was not able to find it, and Xianglin... she had...

Brown hair moved as he frantically shook his head from side to side, as though that would stop his train of thoughts. He growled to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, "Stop it. Just... stop it." Despite having just woken up, he was already tired again. He wasn't really sure how long he had been sleeping. He had the feeling he had fallen asleep while working again and had spent the night in the office.

The sound of the door of his office opening caused Kilik to jump and he could only hope the movement was hidden by the chair he was sitting in. "Uhm... excuse me...?" The voice behind him was unfamiliar and uncertain.

Of everything Kilik had been expecting to see, what he actually saw was not on the list. Standing in the door was a man, outlined by the harsh lights of the hallway outside that were pouring in around him from the now-open door. He looked taller than the Chinese man, and more solidly built. Strong jaw, angular face, strait blond hair that was falling past his shoulders and Kilik could only really assume it didn't go much father than that, thought it was only a guess. The man looked familiar, but the half-awake state of the former monk was making it difficult to place why. Those blue eyes. He had seen them before somewhere.

Judging from the man's clothing, it couldn't have been someone he had seen around the building in which he worked, not that he spent enough time outside of his small office to memorize what anyone really looked like- save for his boss and that man's secretary. Everyone else was a vague group of men in suits. This man was not wearing anything even semi-professional. His t-shirt was faded and had some old band's logo on it, un-tucked over a pair of worn blue jeans and it looked like he was wearing boots. This man looked as though he had never stepped inside of a major company in his life.

Kilik swiveled his chair around so that he was facing the other man when he stood, "Yes?"

"I was looking for Mr. Schauffen's office," the taller man was clearly unsure if he was talking to the right person, and he probably had good reason to be. Kilik probably didn't look as well-kept as he should have, but he did just wake up from sleeping hunched over a desk for who-knew how many hours.

"You're applying for a job..." Even if Kilik had meant it to sound like a question, it didn't. He looked the other man up and down again, "Find a nice suit, cut your hair and try again." He didn't exactly mean to sound as angry as he did; he knew it was unfair to this man to vent his frustration at those dreams coming back at him, but this was a stranger that Kilik would most likely never see again so he tried not to be too upset about it. "Besides," he sighed, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to calm himself, "Mr. Schauffen died a week ago. His secretary's been running the place, but she can't hire anyone without permission from..." He had heard the name of the man who was supposed to be his new boss a few days ago, but he couldn't remember it in that moment.

The mystery man, however, did remember the name and was more than happy to provide it. "Siegfried Schauffen. His son." The taller man was clearly not amused, if his hard frown was anything to go by, "I was not looking for a job. I was looking for -my- new office."

In that moment, Kilik wasn't sure whether to apologize or not. He had been rude, but it was still good advice that the man should fallow- especially if he was going to be running this place. No one would respect a man who looked like that. His lips twitched slightly, figuring he was as good as fired already and it wasn't really worth grovelling for his job. "Right. There's an elevator at the end of the hall. Take it all the way up to the tenth floor. Your office is impossible to miss, Mr. Schauffen."

That had not been the response Siegfried expected. He was not entirely sure what he should have expected. Most of Siegfried's life had been spend avoiding the things his father had wanted him to do, and running the company had been very high on that list, so he was unfamiliar with what was normal; though, he knew that his father would not have tolerated something like that from Siegfried so it made sense that the proud German really would not have allowed his employee to act like that. The Frederick Schauffen Siegfried knew would have yelled, fired the man, and probably would have had security escort him out. The mental image was amusing enough to bring a small smile on the German man's face, "Siegfried. Mr. Schauffen was my father. Thanks for the directions Mr..." His voice trailed off, clearly asking what he should call the other man.

"Kilik," the Asian said with a shrug. He had been told to call his new boss, who didn't seem to be as fond of holding grudges as his father, by his first name and Kilik reasoned that meant the other man deserved the same.

With a wordless nod, the German turned from his employee and strode out of the small office towards the elevator. He still wasn't exactly sure what the Hell he was even doing there, but he decided he wasn't going to look so lost in front of the people who had worked for his father. Filling his father's shoes would be difficult, Siegfried had known that, but he figured he should at least look like he belonged there if he was going to get any bit of respect from people. Maybe invest in a suit. The hair cut, however, was not going to happen.

The elevator was empty when it opened and allowed Siegfried to step inside. He hit the button for the tenth floor and leaned casually against the back wall while it moved. While listening to the soft music being played, he made a mental note to change it from stereotypical elevator music to something that he could listen to in the morning that wouldn't give him a headache. Lists of various possible songs drifted through the blond's mind until the elevator doors slid open with a soft 'ding'.

The tenth floor consisted of a wide hallway with two doors, one opposite the elevator and one to the left. Across from the left door was a desk stock piled with papers, a phone, and a computer. The image was complete with a young girl shifting nervously in her seat as she typed, filed, and did whatever it was she was doing- Siegfried really had no idea what. Look at her, the German had no doubt in his mind why his father had hired the green-haired young woman, even if she didn't look particularly professional. The thought made him shutter.

Her green hair was short, but she still managed to have it up in some way that was probably a lot more complicated than it looked. It framed her face to make her look younger than she probably was. At least, Siegfried hoped that was what it was and that his father had not hired an underage secretary like some kind of lecher. He couldn't deny that she was attractive, but his father had been much older than Siegfried and it just seemed wrong somehow.

When she finally glanced in his direction, she froze. Slowly, she turned her head towards him and stared, turquoise eyes widening slightly as the sight of him. He shifted unconsciously under her gaze, unsure of whether or not she was actually memorizing how he looked or if he was simply being uneasy for no reason. He offered her his best charming smile and was rewarded with an answering grin, complete with that sparkling eyes thing women were able to do when they looked at something they liked. At least it meant she enjoyed the view.

"Hi," Siegfried gave a small wave, walking over to the desk, "I'm-"

He was cut off by a cheery voice that matched the smile perfectly, "Siegfried, right? Mr. Schauffen's son?" She held out her hand, "Its so nice to meet you! I'm sorry about your loss!" How she managed to sound sincerely sorry without losing the happy lilt to her voice was far beyond her new boss. "I'm Tira!"

"...uh..." Siegfried wasn't really sure how to respond to that. He shook her hand and was further surprised to find that she had a decent grip, which was the last thing he had expected from the girl who looked so innocent and dainty. "Yes. Hi. Thank you, Mrs. Tira." He sounded as uncertain as he looked and felt which was somewhat unnerving after his resolution to at least pretend he knew what he was doing mere moments before.

"Just Tira," the young woman sang out happily. "Unless you aren't alright with calling me by my first name. Mr. Schauffen said it would be a shame, since he thought it was so unique."

"It certainly is a unique name..." All Siegfried could really think was that his father was indeed some kind of pervert for hiring this girl. He backed away form his secretary a few steps, "I'm just going to spend some time in my office... so..."

"Oh, don't you worry, Mr. Schauffen! I'll be sure to only forward the important phone calls!"

"Thank you, Tira." Siegfried smiled before stepping into his office. He wasn't sure what was in the door to the left, but he didn't think too hard about it. If it was important, he'd find out about it sooner or later.


	6. The New Vessel

A/N: I almost didn't realize it was Friday! Whoops! But, I caught myself and got this up before midnight, so it works. I guess. Thanks again to ThalieXVII for your amazing review! It makes me so happy! There is a (very little) bit of French in this chapter and there will be more in chapters to come, so I would like to apologize right not for any mistakes. Its not the kind of thing I get much practice with, so my understanding of the language is pretty limited... and the grammar... mon Dieu. =.=;; Anyways, as always, I hope you enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

SIX

The New Vessel

It seemed like so much longer, but it couldn't have been more than an hour, if even that much time had passed. Siegfried wasn't really sure and he didn't really want to find out how long he had been sitting in his father's office doing absolutely nothing productive. He wasn't sure what the hell he was supposed to do or who he could ask. He supposed he could have asked his secretary, but she was kind of unsettling. He wasn't really used to women who were that happy and part of him wondered if it was just how she was or if she was on some kind of drugs.

Frederick wouldn't have been happy with him in that moment. His father had always been so goal-oriented, so organized, so... he just always seemed to know what needed to be done and was more than capable of doing it or of getting better suited people to do it for him. Siegfried never had that kind of drive. It was one of the driving forces behind every problem his father had had with him. Truthfully, the younger Schauffen had been surprised that his father left the company to him. Maybe the old man couldn't find anyone better to give it to.

With a tired sigh, the German leaned back in his leather chair- the one his father had spent God only knew how many hours doing God only knew what. God and his father. It had been a week since the old man died and Siegfried still half expected him to burst through the door and demand to know what his son was doing in his chair. Part of him knew that that would not happen, but... he couldn't help it.

The room suddenly felt oppressive. Depressing. Siegfried got up and shook his head as he walked to the door. He was already sick of the large desk with his father's- his- chair on one side and two dark leather chairs on the other side. He was sick of the small, and unhelpfully empty, mini-fridge that sat to the left of his desk against a wall. He was sick of the ancient armor that sat in a glass case on the wall opposite of the fridge. All of it. It all seemed so much like his father's taste and that was just what Siegfried had been hoping to avoid when he decided it was time to get out of the house he had also inherited and actually run the business he had been left. It had been a foolish assumption that the office would be any better than the house, really.

Before he could take a single step away from the desk, the phone rang. He arched a brow, staring at it for a moment. Tira had said that she was only going to patch through important calls, so it was probably something he should answer. With a quiet sigh, the German sat back down and answered the phone, hoping he wasn't about to make a fool out of himself to someone important. "Hello?"

"Ah, so this is the voice of the new Mr. Schauffen that has everyone so excited!" The voice on the other side was definitely male, and held a very heavy French accent. It was familiar somehow, but Siegfried couldn't quite place it.

"Yes, it is. Can I help you Mr...?"

There was a deep chuckle that made the hairs on the back of Siegfried's neck stand on end. He could tell already that he wasn't going to like this man very much. "Oh, yes, my apologies, mon ami. I had assumed your father would have mentioned me to his little son. I am Raphael de Sorel. It is a pleasure to finally speak to you."

"Raphael de..." The name was familiar. Ah, yes. Siegfried shook his head, feeling the beginnings of a head ache, "We met when I was younger, didn't we?"

"Oui," Raphael sounded all too pleased on the other side of the line, "You and I were introduced when you had visited your father. I was leaving as you were entering, as I recall. So sorry about your loss, by the way. Monsieur Frederick was an interesting man, to say the least, and he will truly be missed."

"Yes, thank you." As Siegfried remembered it, his father was in a terrible mood that day after dealing with the Frenchmen and Siegfried had taken the brunt of that ire. He still had not forgiven Raphael. "Is there a reason you called Mr. Sorel?"

There was another annoying chuckle and Siegfried considered hanging up right then when the man continued to speak, "I see you have not been warned, so I suppose I will keep it short today. It is, after all, your first day. You see, your father and I used to have quite the amusing little talks when he was around. Every day, in fact. Of course, I had been the younger and more inexperienced of the two at the time. My, but it will be interesting to see these little talks from the other point of view from now on, as I am your senior, Siegfried." He made it a point to let the German know he considered them to be on a first name basis.

"You're going to be calling me every day? Why?" The blond tried to sound calm over the phone, but he had never been too good at controlling his temper. He was able to hold back a growl, which he considered worth something in and of itself.

"As excitable as your father, I see. These calls shall not be as boring as I feared they would be. Good." Siegfried could swear he could hear the other man's grin in his voice. If he was trying to be a pain in the ass, he was doing a fantastic job of it. "I call for all kinds of things, but my amusement is always the top priority. Now, I already told you I would cut it short today as a small mercy to my new friend, so I bid you adieu, Siegfried. Je vais vous parler demain."

Just like that, the phone line was dead and Siegfried was in no better mood than he had been in before. In fact, he may have been more annoyed. When he hung the phone back on the receiver, it was with more force than was really needed. The blond man stood once again. The phone remained quiet, despite the German's silent dare for it to ring again and the Frenchmen to be responsible. He could now understand some of his father's irritance at work, at the very least. He strode across his office, eager to just be out of there for a while.

When Siegfried opened the double doors leading into the hallway, he had expected to see his secretary doing more of what he had seen her doing when he first arrived. What he didn't expect was to see Tira standing in front of the doors with her hand raised to knock.

"Uhm... yes?" Siegfried wasn't sure if he would ever get used to having someone grinning at him as openly and freely as this woman.

Tira lowered her hand, her grin never faltering, "I almost forgot! I'm so sorry!" She held a small key out to her new boss, "This is yours! I mean, of course its yours, you probably knew that already, but you know, here! I figured you would want this. It was where your father went when he was feeling frustrated or wasn't sure what he wanted to do next... which I figured you were feeling right now, especially after meeting Mr. Sorel; which I forgot to warn you about and I'm sorry. It was such a normal thing to your father that it didn't occur to me that you wouldn't know about his daily calls."

The blond blinked, processing what she was saying. He took the key from her, looking it over, "This... is for that room on the left, right?" He wasn't sure what he would find in a room his father would keep locked, but it was better than having nothing to do. Before he could check the room, a thought occurred to him, "Tira... how did you get this key?" It wasn't that he didn't trust the girl- he had no reason not to- but he knew his father was the kind of man to keep things important to him close, which was probably why he had sent Siegfried away to a boarding school the first chance he got. He didn't need to think about that in that moment.

"It is. Your father always had me hold it for him," the woman said, shrugging, "He never told me why and I didn't want to bother him by asking, so I've just always held onto it in case he ever asked for it, and, since he left you the company, I figured he would have wanted you to have this."

"Thank you." Siegfried nodded, giving his secretary a small smile. She looked like some kind of attention starved puppy who had finally been given a treat. It was kind of unsettling. He wanted to know what was in the other room, but he didn't really want her staring at him, or staring at the door the entire time he was in there. "You know... why don't you go take a lunch break?"

"A lunch break? Are you sure?" Tira blinked at her boss, not too used to a Schauffen asking her to take a break, especially without asking if an entire list of things had gotten done first. She wasn't sure if she had done something to upset her new boss, but the thought did not sit well with her. She was trying to do well, but it was really weird working with someone new and seeing a different face on the other side of those double doors. Siegfried looked a lot like his father... but there was something about him that was very different. Maybe it was something he got from his mother or something that Frederick had developed from years of working to bring his company up from something small to one of the four most successful on the planet.

The green haired woman was pulled from her musings by the sound of her new boss' voice, "Yes. You go and get yourself some food and... uh..." Tira's small frown was making Siegfried feel kind of bad for sending her away, but he figured he knew just what to say to make her feel better, "I'm actually kind of hungry myself. Why don't you bring something back for me?" He smiled nervously at her, not used to asking people to do things like that for him.

"Oh! Yes, sir, of course!" Tira grinned, nodding, "I'm sorry! I should have realized you would be hungry! Don't worry, I'll be right back! What do you want to eat?"

"I'm not picky. Take the company card and treat yourself." He could only guess that they had something like that, but they should have, right? All big companies has something like that. Probably. If they didn't, Siegfried was about to find out.

"Oh my God! Thank you so much!" Tira lunged forward and hugged her boss. She had never been able to do anything like that with Frederick, and she wasn't sure if Siegfried would be alright with getting a hug but she was too happy to care. She'd actually get to go on a lunch break! And she wasn't paying for it out of pocket! And She could get food for her boss! She hoped she would get something he would like! "I'll be back!" Tira had grabbed her purse and was skipping into the elevator before Siegfried really knew what happened.

At least she was enthusiastic. With a shake of his head, Siegfried took the few steps that carried him to the mystery door. Something his father didn't personally carry the key for? Whatever was in there must have been important or, at least, interesting. Siegfried put the key into the small hole and turned it until it clicked. He opened the door and glanced around inside. It was dark.

He stepped in and closed the door behind him, in case Tira came back before he was done looking around; he really didn't want to be interrupted from interrupting himself from thinking about his father and his new job and how he had no clue what to even do.

When the door clicked shut behind Siegfried, soft lights around the room turned on. They didn't light the room itself so much as a few items in glass display cases. With Frederick's almost notorious love of ancient artifacts, it was no surprise that the room he would go to when he needed to clear his head would be filled with old things in display cases. A sword here, some armor there, everything was pretty standard to his father's taste.

Siegfried walked slowly through the room, looking from case to case at all the different things. He was curious as to what they were and did share in his father's love of the past, but there were many things in the room he had never seen or heard of before. It was then that something in the room seemed to pulse. It was such a slight change that Siegfried wasn't sure it had actually happened at first.

The pulse happened again. And again. It was getting stronger and becoming something the German could not ignore. He began to wander forward, as though whatever was pulsating the air was pulling him. Urging him gently towards it at first, but, as he got closer, it seemed to become more forceful. It needed him so bad. It needed him then. No more waiting. Now.

Siegfried's steps quickened.

He soon found himself in front of a case with a sliver of metal about the size of his palm. It was sitting on a royal blue pillow and looked like the least worn object out of the collection. Siegfried wasn't exactly sure what it was that was drawing him to that item or why he was carefully taking the glass case off of the display. There was a shuddering pulse through the air and Siegfried couldn't keep himself from dropping the case in a moment of surprise. He probably should have done something about the broken glass. He probably should have noticed that he had dropped anything. He didn't.

All that existed for Siegfried in that moment was the shard. It was like some kind of force pulling at him to grab it. It had been his father's. It was now his. Why shouldn't he grab it? He wanted to grab it. He needed to grab it. It needed him to grab it. It wanted him. Chose him.

Siegfried's hand moved independent of his mind when it reached out and grabbed hold of the shard. The second he touched it, it was like white-hot electricity coursing through his veins. It was like being alive for the first time, or dying and being reborn. Blue eyes widened as years and memories that he had never known danced before him in a dizzying blur. He was shaking. Falling. Everything about him was falling away. Slipping into some kind of sleep. He was so tired. He needed to sleep.

Everything went black.

A dark grin passed over Siegfried's face as the spirit of the shard took control of a new body. It was not as strong as it would have been if it was reunited with the rest of the cursed blade it had come from, but it decided that this would do for the current. This boy was not as driven as its last attempted host. So familiar, though. So, Frederick had a son. Soul Edge would make good use of his former 'owner's'- as though anyone could _own_ Soul Edge- son.

The demon slipped the shard it had been waiting in into Siegfried's- his- pocket. He would use this human's mind to learn about the time he was in. It shouldn't take too long. He was already absorbing information as he calmly walked out of the room he had been waiting in for so long, into the hallway. He would need somewhere to wait... ah, yes. The office. His office. It would do perfectly.

It wasn't until he was in the office that he realized there were no lights on when there should have been. His host didn't know how to fix the problem. He would have to hope that someone who worked for him did. Until then, he would finish absorbing all of his host's memories and consolidating his control over the body. This one was filled with guilt for his rocky relationship with his father. The one who had died- poor Frederick. Really. That would be useful. He could use that to keep control. Too easy.


	7. The Quiet Wind

A/N: A change of pace and two more characters get to be brought in. Thanks, again, to ThalieXIII for being an awesome reviewer and to everyone else who has taken an interest in this story! Hopefully, this chapter won't turn too many people away from reading this. I usually like to post on Fridays... but I was in such a good mood tonight that I'm throwing it up now. As always, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

SEVEN

The Quiet Wind

"You're looking especially happy today. I'm guessing the boss hasn't gone on a rampage yet?"

Talim was pulled from her thoughts with a small jump by the familiar voice of the mail boy. She smiled nervously at the red-headed youth, "No, he hasn't." She looked at the clock on her computer screen with a small sigh, "But, its only four thirty."

Yunsung laughed, "So he still has some time to get pissy and chew you out, huh? I bet it sucks working for that guy."

"You work for him, too," the words came out a little more defensive than they should have. She was never really good at talking to the mail boy. Really, she had never been good at talking to attractive men in general- a fact that earned her no small amount of teasing by her best friend.

With his usual confident smirk, the Korean waggled his finger in front of the secretary, "Nah, nah. See, you work for him but, for me, he's just a means to an end." The young man was moving his hands as he spoke to emphasize his point, "I've got it all planned out. Start small in the mail room and work my way up and then, BAM! I'll be running this place. Just you wait." He crossed his arms, pretending to think about it for a moment, "You know... I'll need a secretary when I'm the boss of this place. How about you stay on and work for me?"

Talim giggled softly, hiding her smile behind her hand. She nodded, "Alright, Mr. Boss. And when that happens, how should I fix your coffee for you in the morning?"

"Geeze, he makes you get his coffee, too? I would never ask my staff to do something like that for me... but, since you're asking, I like my coffee the same way I like girls. Sweet." Yunsung burst out laughing.

Despite trying not to look like she wasn't being productive- which she really wasn't- Talim couldn't help but laugh as well, just not as loud and hidden behind her hand again. She really didn't want to get yelled at, but Yunsung's carefree nature and overall excitement was contagious. If their boss saw them like that, she would probably get yelled at or fired or something. It wasn't something she was too thrilled about.

"You know," the red-head's voice was quiet, especially compared to his usual tone. The look he gave Talim was more serious than she had come to expect from him, "You shouldn't hide your smile. Its too cute for that. Besides, this whole damn place is such a downer somethings, it would be nice to see a smile like yours from time to time."

"Oh..." Talim blinked dumbly at the mail boy for a moment before giving a small nod and an even smaller smile, but she didn't hide it behind her hand, "Thank you." No one had really told her anything like that before, and she could already feel the heat rushing to her face as her heart did a small flip.

Yunsung's usual grin slid back into place easily as he waved it away, "Yeah, no problem. Anyway, I can't get to the top if I just stand around talking all day. There's nothing here to drop off just yet, but I'm sure I'll be back! See ya!"

With that, he was off to deliver things to other people around building. Talim's quiet, "Goodbye," was probably drowned out by the ambient sounds of people rushing around to get their jobs done. She figured he would be back sooner or later because there was always something for the boss, and all of his mail went through her first. She couldn't help but be excited by the fact that her adorable and amazing and handsome coworker would be back. She might even have more to say to him. Doubtful, but she could hope.

A sudden sound made Talim jump for the second time that day. She shook her head and reminded herself to stop zoning out so much. The secretary glanced to the left, then to the right, then both ways a second and third time before deciding it was safe enough to investigate the source of the noise: her phone. She quickly glanced at it and found a message from her best friend, Tira. It was inviting her out to lunch. For most other people, Talim would have sent back that she was working as fast as she could, to avoid being caught on the phone at work, but she knew that her friend rarely ever got to take lunch breaks. It couldn't hurt to ask her boss for a break, since it meant actually spending time with her friend, which became more and more rare the longer the other girl worked for that Schauffen guy. Sometimes, he made working for her boss not seem so bad.

Slowly, the girl picked up her desk phone and dialed her boss' extension. She was still questioning whether it was a wise move or if it would end with her getting yelled at again He answered on the second ring, as he usually did. "Yes?" He didn't sound like he was in too bad of a mood. In fact, he sounded amused.

"It sounds like your first call with the new Schauffen went well." Talim tried not to sound too nervous, hiding it as best she could behind a cheery tone.

She was answered with the sound of her boss stifling a laugh. "Oui, you could say that. I am sure he will be as pleased to hear my lovely voice every day as his father way, if not more so. Mais, I doubt you called to ask me how my conversation with Monsieur Schauffen went." If he had been in a worse mood, he would not have been so polite and the implication that her job was on the line would have been much more apparent, if not directly stated.

"Yes, sir... well, I was, uhm... that is..."

"Spit it out." Talmi could swear she heard him sigh.

"O-of course! Would it be alright if I took my lunch brake a little early today, sir? Please?" She was shaking and could only hope that he could not hear that in her voice.

Raphael laughed openly into the phone and the empty expanse of his office. His little secretary was so cute sometimes. It was one of the main reasons he bothered to keep her around. That, and she wouldn't dare do anything to defend herself during the times when he was angry and needed an easy target. Healthy venting and all that. "Only because I am in such a good mood today." He hung up in the middle of being thanked.

Talim grabbed her purse and was texting her friend back as she practically ran from the office, half worried that her boss would change his mind before she could make it out. By the time Talim got to the door, she had already heard back from her friend. They were going to meet at a small sandwich place the two had often frequented when they hung out, before work started consuming most of their time. It had been too long since the last time they were there together, and Talim couldn't deny that spending time with her friend was overdue.

The walk to the designated meeting place was uneventful, but not in a bad way. The weather was nice and Talim enjoyed the gentle breeze that had played with her hair and seemed to push her onward towards her friend. The wind was like that, somethings, urging her in one direction or another.

After getting her sandwich, Talim looked for her friend, brown eyes scanning the crowd for anything familiar, which she found in the form of green hair barely showing over the back of a booth. With a small smile, the brunette walked across the shop to the place her friend was sitting and took a seat across from the other woman.

"Ah! There you are! You were taking so long, I was worried you were getting yelled at again or something! I'm so glad you came! And I have soooo much to tell you!" Tira grinned at the friend she had seen with less and less frequency- especially after Mr. Schauffen had died and Tira had been forced to take care of things until his son showed up, which had happened and now she should probably get to spend more time with her friend, though, she wouldn't mind working late if it meant getting to spend more time with her pretty boss.

Talim nodded at her enthusiastic friend, "It is good to see you again, too, Tira. How have you been?"

"So good! My new boss is so good looking! Drop-dead gorgeous! Like, he definitely looks like a younger version of his father, if Mr. Frederick ever worked out, but there are certain things, like his eyes and his hair, that I bet he got from his mother! And his smile," she swooned, "His smile is so amazing, I'm amazed I didn't feint when I saw it!" Tira sighed happily, resting her chin on her hand at the thought, "I used to be so jealous that you had the prettier boss, but now I think I do. And he seems so kind! He let me go on a lunch break and even let me use the company card to pay for it! What's been going on with you?"

Talim chuckled softly, nodding. Tira was so chaotic compared to her friend. Not that Talim couldn't get riled up, but it was a rare occurrence. "Nothing, really. Work is the same as it has always been, although..." As red-hair and a self-assured grin flashed through her mind, Talim blushed.

"What? What is it? Is it your boyfriend again?"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Talim shook her head, painfully aware of how bright red she had gotten just thinking about him. "Yunsung probably doesn't even see me as anything but the quiet girl who takes Mr. Sorel's mail... but he did stop by and talk to me today for a bit."

"Yeah?" Tira's blue-green eyes widened with interest as she leaned across the table towards her friend, "Tell me more! What did he say? Are you two dating yet? Because you would be the cutest couple!"

"No, no, nothing like that!" Brown braids flew left and right as the younger of the two shook her head, "We wouldn't! I bet he already has someone else anyways."

Tira laughed, "Suuuuure, riiiiiiight! Just don't forget to invite me to the wedding!"

The two would have continued to tease each other- really, Tira would have continued to tease her friend and Talim would have continued to deny all claims about her love life- if it weren't for the police car that sped by the shop they were in. It made a sharp turn, and Tira recognized that that was the same corner she had come from. It occurred to her that it might have been heading to her work. Something might have happened to her boss. She didn't want to think what could have gone wrong without her there to do anything.

"I've gotta go! It was great seeing you again and we totally need to hang out sometime and I'm sorry to cut it so short, but I'll totally text you and you should text me and see you!"

Before Talim could fully recognize what had happened, Tira was up and running out the door in the direction the cop had gone. She realized that the chance of it really being anything to do with Mr. Schauffen was small and that her friend was probably worrying over nothing again, but she wasn't going to ruin it for the older girl. Calmly, she finished her meal before getting up and heading back to her own office. She was sure she would get a text later about Tira feeling silly for running off like that. Talim was already thinking about the movie she would make Tira see with her to make up for it, not that the other woman ever really had a problem with the kind of movies Talim liked to watch.


	8. The Resurfacing Darkness

A/N: Meanwhile, back at the plot... This is kind of an odd one, but I guess being possessed by a demon is pretty odd, huh? Posting this a few hours later than I had planned to (my bad) but, I was kind of really sick (hung over :P ) earlier. As always, thank you to ThalieXIII for reviewing and being so interested in this story. For everyone who reads and does not review, thank you for taking the time to read this far into the story and I hope you continue to keep with it as I continue to write it. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters within.

EIGHT

The Resurfacing Darkness

Ten floors under the demon, Kilik sat in his little office and contemplated what he would do if the new boss really did fire him over his earlier actions. The other man didn't seem like he had been that upset but... it wasn't something the former monk was going to risk without some sort of fall back plan. Getting another job was an easy option, but it would most likely come with the price of working with an entire team of people instead of on his own. It was not a thought that thrilled him, especially not after how hard he had worked to get Frederick to fire everyone else in the IT department and make it a one-man operation. If the German hadn't been such a penny pincher, it probably would have been harder.

Of course, that he had the IT department reduced to only himself served to make firing him considerably more difficult than it would have been if there was anyone to replace him. His new boss would have to find at least one person who could take his place. Siegfried was new to this game, so he probably didn't realize what kind of people his competitors kept in their employ and how important Kilik was to keeping things going. Should the monk find himself out of a job, Siegfried would quickly learn.

Kilik was fairly sure that he wouldn't have to lift a finger to teach his boss that lesson if he was fired. A few days without him and he was confident that one of Siegfried's competitors would have sent him a little something. It was interesting how these kinds of companies worked. Kilik had been shocked to learn the ways of his current trade, but it had been an enlightening experience as to how the world outside of his old home worked.

The former monk's thoughts were starting to drift back towards his old home. Brown eyes narrowed as he tried to stifle such thoughts before his mind found itself investigating the past too deeply. The past was then and it would stay back there if he could help it.

Almost as though reflecting his darkening mood, the lights in his little office flickered once, then twice. Something was happening. There was something in the air that was all at once familiar and disturbing and distant and close and it was too much. The air in the room was suddenly too hot. The lights were too bright for a moment before everything turned off and the world fell into a darkened hush.

There was a time where there was nothing more than the few humble rays of light that were tentatively reaching into the room through the office's only window. That they were attempting to displace the darkness was almost insulting in a way, but Kilik knew that those thoughts were not his. He had experienced something like this before. Years ago. He had hoped that he had gotten beyond the worst of it and would be able to live as normally as anyone else. It seemed fate had other plans.

Beneath lightly tanned skin flowed something molten that seemed much too hot, too furious, to be human blood. It was pulling at him. Everything was pulling at Kilik and he soon found himself leaving his office. There was an urgency in his steps. He went for the emergency stairs, his brain only able to process that he needed to go up. He needed to go see...

Kilik wasn't sure what he was going to see. Part of him knew it was the thing he and his sister had been sent to retrieve long ago; it felt like a lifetime ago. That was a different life. It was invading who he now was. The rest of him was unsure if what he would find would be friend or foe. The part of him that remembered his past was screaming that it was his enemy. He was to take it back to the Temple. The shard had to be purified. The part of him that had been born the night before his expulsion from the temple from a blood lust and spirit that he could not have resisted in his youth was reaching out with things that had nothing to do with skin or blood or bone. It was looking for the master. It was born to serve the cursed blade.

The IT guy who had been working with this company for years and living in this city for even longer railed against both impulses. Those were no longer him. That life had come to an end long, long ago. He was a new man. People no longer believed in demons or cursed swords and tainted blood. Those were the rantings of the insane and the insane were sent away to padded rooms in the depths of underfunded institutions for people who were meant to be forgotten. He would not suffer that fate.

It was hard to tell if the double doors of Frederick's office were a surprise or a welcome sight or anything of importance. They were the only barrier between Kilik and the force that was pulling him in. He knew what it had been to give in to such a power. The monk would not allow that to happen again. For Xianglin, he would fight it. That was the proper course of action, the choice that he was expected to make.

Kilik hadn't noticed that his whole body was trembling until he lifted his hand to grasp the polished brass doorknob. The trembling that ran through the monk's arms increased into nearly violent shaking as he tore the door open. He had been expecting it to be locked. He had been wrong.

Siegfried was sitting on the other side of the door as thought it were the most natural thing to be surrounded by darkness and energies that Kilik knew none but them would have been able to see. His eyes were different than they had been earlier. As though an innocent sky of blue had been dyed red by blood or rage or some horrible god of destruction. Those eyes did not hold anything human. There was a dark knowledge there of years- an unfathomable amount of years- that seemed to pull the entire world in and keep it trapped forever. Forever.

"...you..." Kilik could only manage one breathless word as he struggled to keep from falling into the bloodstained eternity of those eyes.

The beast pulled his human mask into a smirk, "**Me**." His voice sounded similar to Siegfried's, but there was something very inhuman about it. He looked the Asian up and down with and arched brow as something danced behind his eyes. There was an understanding there. He could feel the remnant of himself inside the shorter man's blood, but he couldn't remember exactly how long ago he had infected that one. His host also knew this man, but not from any battle or bloodshed. He was someone Siegfried had met earlier. Uppity attitude. Surrounded by computers, which Siegfried was not an expert in. "**You work for me.**"

The sound of the demon chuckling was enough to make the monk flinch. The urges to kneel and serve his master or to attack were competing for dominance. It was getting hard to breath and Kilik could feel his heart beating so fast he worried it would break free from his chest. It would have been terrifying if the violent darkness in his blood wasn't screaming in anger. Anger was stronger than fear. Kilik swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. His voice sounded almost distant, but he was able to speak. "I work for Siegfried Schauffen."

"**I **_**am**_** Siegfried Schauffen**," the demon snorted, rolling his eyes. "**Turn the lights back on**." This man had been a slave to the blade at some point, though the demon could not yet tell how long ago or how long it had lasted before his influence had been reduced to the Asian's current level of infection. The man was currently working for his host body. As far as the demon was concerned, the one before him was just another tool for him to command.

"Please." The word was forced through clenched teeth.

The demon sounded bored as he leaned back in his chair, "**I have no interest in your begging, worm. Do as you are told.**"

The monk shook his head, "You will ask politely. Please, turn the lights back on."

Something dangerous flashed behind those terrible eyes and the air in the room became instantly heavier and hotter as the demon stood. He was physically larger than the Asian in every respect and they both knew it. A deep growl erupted from the demon, the sound was something that shouldn't have been produced by a human throat. "**No. You work for **_**me**_**. You are **_**mine**_**. ****You****. ****Will****. ****Obey****.**" He crossed his arms, staring down his nose at the insignificant thing that dared to even attempt defiance. "**Lights. ****Now****!**"

There should have been words. Civilized people use words. Kilik knew those things, but he wasn't working off of what he knew at that point. His body was moving, independent of thought, in reaction to the change in the air and the underlying dare that the demon's words held. It dared the monk the challenge his command. The office suddenly seemed much smaller. Time seemed simultaneously slow down and speed up.

Kilik ran into and across the office, ready to attack the demon. His were not the well trained movements of a monk from his temple; they were more akin to something crazed and clumsy. His attempted punch at the demon was easily caught and he found himself thrown backwards. He was lucky his hand was not broken.

It was almost surprising to the demon when the man stood up and moved to come at him again. How foolish. Skipping the battle he imagined the small man wanted, the demon decided to end things there. He would beat the man into submission and get the lights turned on. Or just beat the man to death. It mattered little which happened.

Before the Asian could get close enough to attempt another hit, the demon had gripped the desk and, in a single fluid movement, sent it flying at his opponent. The large wooden desk sailed through the air and Kilik soon found himself crumbled beneath splintering wood with various things that had been on the desk scattered around him on the floor. The sensation of pain was distant and nowhere near as important as it should have been. "Mr. Schauffen..." his voice was quiet.

"**Giving in already? Good.**" The demon's smirk was vicious. Inwardly, he pushed back at his host, who was annoyed at the other man calling him that. Clearly, the demon had been sleeping for far too long. He shouldn't have had any trouble keeping his host at bay. The shard was weakened from years away from the rest of the blade. He would have to remedy that soon.

Somewhere, buried deep within his own soul, Siegfried twitched slightly. He had told the other man earlier, hadn't he? Mr. Schauffen had been his father. He was Siegfried. It was the first thought the German had had since... It was so hard to tell. He couldn't move his mouth to say anything. He couldn't see anything. Too much darkness.

"Siegfried Schauffen!" Kilik's voice was a little louder as he stood, having to use the broken desk to help steady himself. He had no real interest in saving his boss at that point. What the IT guy really wanted was to punch his boss really hard for ruining years of normality, years of denying his time at the temple meant anything, sometimes denying they had even existed. "Siegfried!" Of course, to do that, he would have to get the demon out of the way.

That was his name. Someone was calling it from somewhere. It was so far above him. Maybe it was a way out of the darkness. There it was again! Siegfried gripped out for the source of that sound, slowly regaining feeling in his limbs. They felt so heavy. He still couldn't see. What was wrong with him?

"_Shut up_!" The demon's growl was more human sounding than it had been before. Blue was attempting to bleed into the red eyes that refused to fade away, occasionally flashing purple as the two colors fought for dominance. Blond hair went flying from side to side as the demon shook his head violently, "**No!**"

It was working better than he had thought. He doubted it was any great strength of will on the part of his boss. The demon was probably weakened. Good. "Siegfried! Wake up!"

There it was! Wake up? He was trying- God, he really was. It was so much harder that it should have been. What the Hell was going on?

Without giving the demon time to take his attention off of Siegfried long enough to counter Kilik a second time, the monk shot himself forward and tackled the larger man. The force had almost no resistance and was able to move the blond back until the two were suddenly stopped by a display case of glass and hardwood. From the moment of contact, Kilik's body reacted to the source of evil energy as it had been trained for year to under Zhang He, despite the breaking glass that fell around them and the stray piece cutting his boss' face. The monk found himself attempting to purify the demon, who was caught between grasping at the taint in Kilik's blood and pushing his host away.

"You will not win, **worm!**" The demon punched the monk, but it wasn't as strong as it should have been. His host was holding him back.

The hit connected with Kilik's jaw and the monk found himself punching the demon back. The two were stuck like that for a time; opposing each other with punches and kicks as well as with energies that neither had actually used in so long. The demon could feel himself being pulled away from the fight by his host, but he knew the monk was tiring. The demon could use the evil energies from the shard of the cursed blade that it had been imprisoned in as well as the darkness in his host's soul to fuel his evil energy; all the monk had was the strength of his own soul. He couldn't keep that battle going forever.

Siegfried felt as though he were stuck at the bottom of some great lake. He pushed and kicked and swam and forced his way up desperately. The voice that had called his name was gone, but he could distantly hear movement and grunts and groans. The closer he got to the surface, the harder it was to swim. He could hear more and feel more- feeling anything was an improvement for the German, even if it did hurt. Why was he in pain? He fought harder to swim upwards.

A two-fronted battle was destined to fail. The demon knew this. He was too weakened to handle this. He would have to rest. Regain his strength. Take over his host when he was strong enough to hold it and crush his enemies. He didn't fight his host when the German began to awaken, but he did fight against the monk. Trying to purify him? How pathetic!

Kilik could feel the darkness pushing against him. The evil that still lingered in his blood pulsated and danced in his veins at the feeling while the rest of him focused on purifying the energy around them. It had been so long. It was hard to focus. The whole room was thick with evil. The demon was pouring it out into Kilik as well as into the air. The final push of energy from the demon was dizzying and disoriented the monk enough for the demon to slink away.

Brown eyes met one blue. It was then that Kilik saw the gash running over his boss' eye. Distantly, he wondered how bad the wound was and whether or not he should feel bad for causing it. He had been in a battle with the demon, the cause had been noble. Still, Siegfried was an innocent bystander in it all. The monk didn't have much time to think on the subject before collapsing. He had neglected in his spiritual training and his body was unfit to handle such drastic energies from both outside and within. The world went dark as the Asian hit the ground with a dull thump.


	9. The Plotting Moment

A/N: I just want to apologize for any errors in this chapter. I usually proof read these just before posting, but this chapter... I started proof reading it and then I passed out, then I woke up, did the work thing... long story short, I kinda finished editing it while watching Big Bang Theory, so if there are any mistakes I missed, I'm sorry. ^.^;; I will try to get the next chapter out quickly! As always, thank you so much to ThalieXVII for being an awesome reviewer. I'm glad you liked the thing with the desk (it's actually a running joke with my friends now to use 'you threw a desk at me' in an argument. . ).

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

NINE

THE PLOTTING MOMENT

In the early morning hours when the sun sits just below the horizon, before the stillness and hush of night dissipates and becomes the worry and rush of day, very few people venture out of the comfort of their homes into the world. It is a time when the late night party-goers have just settled down to rest and the early birds and working crowd have yet to fully awaken. Those times had always been Kilik's favorite. They were times when he could feel as though he was the only person in the city.

Despite the peaceful quiet of the time, Kilik felt a certain amount of apprehension as he strode up to the large building where he worked. He was not actually sure if he still worked there. The prior day had started with him insulting his boss and ended with him attacking his boss.

Vaguely, the monk could remember feeling the demon recede before he passed out, but that did not mean he was absolutely certain that it would be Siegfried in control whenever the German showed up for work that day. If the German showed up at all.

It did not much matter to Kilik which of them was in control of the body. He knew the demon was awake and living in his boss which meant he would not be blindsided by the feeling of evil again. It meant he would have to keep his guard up, which would prevent the lingering taint that resided in his soul from taking control.

A quick shake of the head dissolved those thoughts. Now was not the time for such things, now was the time to get things done. Kilik was not sure what his boss would and would not remember, but he doubted telling the blond that there was an age-old demon leaching off his life and taking over his body would go over well no matter what the German could recall. Normal people rarely even believed such demons could exist, much less that they could possibly be possessed by one.

No, that would not work out very well. If the monk was going to fulfill his duty to his temple and be able to save his friend, atone for his sin, and go back home, he was going to have to stay close to the demon and the worst thing he could do to ruin that would be to get himself thrown into a mental institution. Normal people did not talk about cursed blades or exercise each other's demons. That was something only a crazy person would believe and crazy people were sent off to mental institutions.

Kilik could not afford to be sent to such a place. He couldn't even afford to lose his job while the demon lived within his boss. He had to be around purify the thing. It was part of the reason he had shown up to work so early. If he was going to get his boss to listen to him and, hopefully, convince the other man to not fire him, he was going to need to do something drastic. That line of logic was what had occupied the former monk's mind all the night before. Sleepless nights were not unfamiliar to Kilik, but they usually were unproductive. The last night, however, had been filled with plans to stay close to his boss- close to the demon. He did not eat. He did not sleep. He did not change his outfit or shower. He thought and, in doing so, had developed a plan to convince his boss that he was needed. Irreplaceable in the company.

Most men were not fond of listening to those who tackled them into a display case. Kilik knew he was going to have to do something to make sure Siegfried had no choice in the matter. It was not a difficult job for the IT guy so long as he showed up and started working early. It would take time to get everything ready. He also wanted to make it to his small office before any security guards showed up kick him out. Kilik wasn't even sure they would kick him, but it was better safe than sorry.

The interior of the building was still and dark, which told the Asian man that he was indeed the first to show up that day. He was thankful he had been given a key by Frederick. The key had been for locking the building down during the nights when he was staying late to fix some problem or other, but it was just as useful for opening up.

Kilik locked the door behind himself before stealing away into his small office to get to work. He quickly booted up his machines and started typing, all the while half expecting security or his boss to burst through the door and accuse him of breaking in and have him fired or arrested. Quietly, the monk had to reassure himself several times that it was not really paranoia when there really was a reason to feel threatened. Somehow, that quiet mantra and the sound of his fingers deftly working the keyboard was calming.

It wasn't until hours later that the soft clack clack clack of rapid typing and whirring of cooling fans was interrupted by the sudden ringing of Kilik's cell phone. As a part of his contract with Frederick, the boss never contacted him via the company's phone line, the speed dial upstairs had long ago been changed to his personal number. The only other person who had Kilik's number knew better than to call him during work hours. With a quite sigh, the Chinese man finished the code he was working on before answering.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Schauffen would like to see you." He recognized the voice of Frederick's- apparently, Siegfried's now- secretary girl. She didn't sound especially happy to be talking to him. Kilik had forgotten she had even existed. Still, hearing from Tira, he supposed, was better than having to deal with his room mate.

"Of course," Kilik did not bother trying to sound anything but weary. He figured this was his new boss trying to fire him. He had taken precautions against such a thing, but it had been at the cost of resting and he was still tired from the day before. Bruises like the small ones on his person from being hit with a desk and the larger one that had grown on his face, reminded him of the day before and how tired his body currently was. After such an insignificant amount of energy used during the battle the day before and he needed rest. The former monk made a mental note to begin training himself spiritually again before quietly adding, "I'll be right up."

Without a glance back at the screens that were starting to go dark, one by one, around the room, Kilik walked out of his office. His mind was already working over what he should say or what might be said to him as he entered the elevator and hit the button for the tenth floor.


	10. The Civil Men

A/N: As promised! A very fast update and a long one at that! I will say now that I enjoy this chapter so much more than the last one! Wow. Double digits already. Anyways. Again, I only speak a little bit of French and it isn't very good at all (you would be surprised how many people speak French in Texas... that is to say, very few- so the practice thing doesn't really happen, but I tried to make it not completely wrong). T.T More questions forever! Not really, everything will make sense eventually. Sorry about the last chapter being so lame and I hope this one makes up for it. Thank you for baring with me! Please enjoy and thank you for reading! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

TEN

The Civil Men

Siegfried's eye throbbed behind the patch of gauze that was taped to his face as he walked into his office, clad in an outfit that was almost identical to the one he had worn the day before- the only difference being a different band symbol decorating his shirt. His injured eye had been throbbing all day, all the night before, nonstop since he woke up with it. Logic told the German that he had to have been awake when it happened, but he couldn't quite remember what had happened. He remembered being given a key and walking into his father's room and then everything became blurry and thinking about it gave him a headache up until the point when he was standing dumbly and in pain in that very office he had woken up in. Although, he wasn't sure he could call it 'woken up' because he didn't think he had fallen asleep. It was like being stuck in a confusing circle of questions with no answers.

When he awoke, he had seen the man from before had passed out, that the office was a mess, the head of security had shown up- along with a few police officers- and his secretary had run in crying about something. She hadn't been around for whatever had happened. None of the others had been. Siegfried had to spend an exhausting amount of time telling the police he was not pressing charges and convincing them to leave, all while his head security guy- Rock- wrapped his face in gauze to stop the bleeding from... whatever the hell had happened. It seemed as though there had only been two people in the room when the event happened. The only person who would be able to tell Siegfried what had happened before he 'woke up' would be the passed out man. Tira had told him it was their IT guy. Their only IT guy.

The place looked much cleaner than it had the night before and Siegfried could only guess that it was Tira's doing. He hadn't done anything to fix the place up. Cleaning up after him wasn't exactly her job as far as he could tell- maybe it was? He honestly didn't know and he wasn't about to ask his own secretary what her job was for fear of looking as clueless as he felt. Either way, it was still very nice of her to do. He wasn't sure where he would have started if he had to get everything back in order. With a small smile, the blond cracked the large double doors open enough to peak his face out.

"Tira," the girl looked up when he addressed her, "Thank you."

She grinned and nodded happily at her boss, confident that he wouldn't be able to tell she had been face-down on her desk in shame for letting him down the day before and somehow causing whatever it was that had happened. Logic would have told anyone else that there was nothing they could have done even if they had been around and it certainly tried to tell the same thing to Tira, but she was the kind of young woman who put one hundred and ten percent into everything she did and she wasn't going to let something like logic convince her that allowing anything bad to happen to her boss was anything short of a failure on her part. "Of course! It was no problem! I got one of the security guys to help me. Also, don't worry!" She had started so happy, but her voice faltered and quieted as she continued, "About the IT guy, I mean. Finding a replacement shouldn't be too hard, right?" She laughed nervously.

"Uhm... right... thank you," Siegfried said, his smile dampening around the edges slightly. He didn't even want to think about having to hire anyone. All the reading resumes and having interviews and he wasn't even sure how he would train someone for a position he really knew nothing about. He could probably get the current the guy to train the new one before firing him, but that seemed too... wrong. Making someone teach their replacement how to replace them. It didn't sit right with the German.

_He attacked you._

"I don't know that," the blond murmured as he walked to his desk and sank into his black leather office chair, "Not for sure."

There was a chance that a normal person would have been concerned about a voice in their head, but Siegfried wasn't too bothered by it. He had had his share of imaginary friends during his lonely childhood years and could only assume that that was all it was. It was just some kind of reaction to the stress of his father's passing, inheriting a business he really didn't want, and blacking out and then finding himself bleeding with a passed out employee, who looked worse for ware himself. Surely, it was nothing to be concerned about and it would go away with time. He just had to get more comfortable with how life was and it would go away. Besides, Siegfried had a fine hatred of doctors- psychiatric or not- and was more than happy to call it a reaction to stress instead of going to some over-paid quack for help.

That was what Siegfried told himself as he decided to try to go through e-mails or something. He still wasn't sure exactly what the Hell his father actually **did** in the office. Part of him was sure that he could hear the faint sound of the voice in his head laughing at him, but he ignored it. Pushing that fact deep down to be examined never seemed like the best plan at the time.

It was then that the phone rang and Siegfried suddenly remembered one of the things his father had done every day- if the Frenchmen was to be believed and Siegfried had no reason not to believe him.

With a quiet sigh, the German answered the pone, "Yes?"

"Non, non, non, mon ami," the voice on the other end of the line managed to sound both amused and disappointed at the same time, "That is a terrible greeting for a man such as yourself!"

"I don't really-"

His words were cut off by Raphael, "Something like 'Schauffen here' would be tolerable, but only because it would be reminiscent of your father, mais, I would prefer something more along 'Hello' or, my favorite, 'Yes, Monsieur Sorel, how may I serve you today?' although, we do not always get what we want and I have the feeling tha-" Whatever he was saying was cut off by Siegfried simply hanging up the phone.

He wasn't sure how or why his father put up with such calls. Part of him assumed that they all ended with the elder Schauffen hanging up and his caller being too stubborn to stop trying. With that out of the way, Siegfried tried to get back to work, but promptly realized that he still wasn't too sure of what it was he should be doing. There was a reason that he never jumped at the chance to visit his father at work and learn the trade. Office work was too stuffy for a guy like him.

For the second time that day, Siegfried found himself getting up and walking to the door to peak out at his secretary. "Tira?"

The secretary's head shot up from her desk, "Yes, Mr. Schauffen? Do you need anything? Can I get you something?"

"Uhm, yes," Siegfried wasn't too thrilled with what he was about to do, but it seemed as good a step towards being productive as any, "Could you ask the IT guy to come up here? I need to speak with him."

Tira's grin faltered slightly and it was far more obvious than she had meant it to be that keeping the grin at all was difficult for her. It almost made Siegfried feel bad for asking. "You don't have to, sir. I could tell him or send down a note or an e-mail or have Rock tell him..."

"I would rather speak with him myself."

"Well... of course, sir..." Tira said quietly, still feeling as though the previous day was somehow her fault and her inability to talk her boss out of being face to face with an obviously crazy and dangerous man was only further proof of her failure as an assistant. "Would you, at least, like Rock in there with you?"

The German sighed quietly, "No, I don't..." She looked like a kicked puppy and it was enough to make the older man give his head a small shake and revise his words somewhat, "...think he should be in the same room. It would be better if he stayed outside the door, alright?"

"Yes, sir." Siegfried was rewarded with a small smile from his secretary as she contacted their head of security and the IT guy.

Siegfried strode back to his desk and sunk into his chair. He wasn't really sure what he was going to say to the other man. He didn't want to admit that he didn't have any clue what had happened the day before, but he needed to know what had happened. A voice whispered in his mind that he didn't need or want to know, but he couldn't bring himself to listen to it. Something had happened it didn't sit well with him to punish a man who might not have been guilty.

No one else had been in the room with them. No one else knew that had happened. Maybe the IT guy had attacked him. Maybe the guy had been acting out of self defense and Siegfried had been the violent one. He would find out before deciding what to do about his employee. The voice in his head tried to warn him against it again, more insistently, but he ignored it. Ignoring things they didn't feel like listening to was a common trait amongst the Schauffen family. Whether or not that was a good thing was up for debate.

The wait for the other man wasn't as long as he had expected it would be. No more than a few minutes after he had spoken to Tira, the IT guy was walking through his door, not bothering to knock. It made him wonder exactly how busy the other man could have been and how important his job was. If it was only worth having one guy, it might not have been much. Maybe replacing him wouldn't be difficult if he did, indeed, have to replace the brunette.

The Chinese man looked exhausted and had a bruise forming on his cheek. His hair was somewhat disheveled. Clearly, he hadn't spent much time cleaning up before work and Siegfried idly wondered if he had even bothered to changes his clothing. Rock had told him that someone had picked up the passed out man, so Siegfried figured he hadn't spent the night at the office but, looking at him in that moment, it was hard to tell if the other had actually gone home or not.

"You wanted to see me." It was more of a statement than a question, but the other man didn't sound angry. If anything, he seemed apprehensive as he stood by the door.

Siegfried cleared his throat and motioned for the two chairs in front of his desk, "Feel free to sit down. You look like you could use a rest." The Chinese man snorted, but walked forward and sat in one of the chairs; they were much more comfortable than the one he had in the small office ten floors down, but that wasn't much of a surprise.

Kilik wasn't sure what to say to his boss. In general, he didn't talk to people very much. His job called for him to be alone in a room surrounded by machines for hours and his room mate had long ago accepted his quiet nature and stopped trying to get him to speak. Most days, it wasn't much of a problem, but it left him unequipped to deal with moments that called for a dialogue.

Brown eyes scanned over the features of his boss, silently taking in the bandage on his face. Other than that, the other man didn't look much worse for ware. Maybe the beginnings of bags under his eyes, but it was clear that he had taken much less damage than the monk. When considering that one of them was housing a demon that was making them stronger and more resistant to damage, it wasn't much of a shock that Siegfried would look better than Kilik.

He wondered if his boss even knew about the demon. From what he knew about Soul Edge, he gave the taller man the benefit of the doubt instead of treating him as though he were voluntarily hosting a demon. Still, he couldn't keep himself from gently purifying the remaining taint in the air around himself. The action would only make him feel worse, but it wasn't an urge he was going to fight against.

"About yesterday," Siegfried started carefully, watching the other man's eyes as they moved over his face before resting the eye that was not covered, "I am not sure if I should be apologizing or demanding an explanation from you." It hadn't exactly been what he planned to say. He definitely didn't plan on giving away his lack of knowledge about the situation so soon, but there was something relaxing about the other man's presence. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, but it was as though something that had been bugging him all day was gone. Like a weight lifted from his shoulders.

Kilik nodded, his eyes dropping down to his lap for a moment before meeting that of his boss again, "It was not your fault. Stress and loss do terrible things to people and I should not have been so callous with you." He knew that he couldn't tell the other man about the demon without sounding insane. He also knew that using Siegfried's lack of memories to his advantage and making the blonde feel bad for something that was, technically, not his fault was not something Kilik was willing to do.

"What happened?" The German's voice was quieter than he had intended. He was this man's boss and, though he was new to the position, he had been through situations that put him in a leadership role before and he knew very well that showing any hint of weakness or of being unsure was the last thing he should be doing. His father had taught him the value of strong leadership and the cost of the alternative at a young age. He cleared his throat and repeated the words, his voice sounding solid, "What happened?"

"Words were exchanged," Kilik said simply.

"Words?" Siegfried growled as his eye began to throb again. That feeling was resurfacing. "Words do not end in bruises and bandages."

There was the slightest bit of a smirk from the shorter man before it faded. He shook his head and ran a hand through the untidy brown locks on his head, "That came after the words. It is my fault you can't glare at me with both eyes right now." There was a small pause in which Kilik's body gave an involuntary shutter. He could feel darkness rising and he wasn't sure how he would react to it if exposed a second time in so many days, especially in his current tired state. His voice was quiet when he continued, "I did not do that to you until after you threw your desk at me."

When the Asian man shuddered, Siegfried could only assume it was because of the memory of being attacked by his boss. Normally, he would scoff at the notion that he threw a desk as large as his current one at another person on his own, but it wasn't so unbelievable under the circumstances. People could do amazing things when put into the right situations for it. He had the feeling that any situation that would be enough for him to black out was the right one for such a feat. When he was very young- he had been so angry at so many things back them- he had blacked out before and come to to the realization that he had beaten another kid up. It was usually for something stupid. That might have been a resurfacing of that. Also, he could not deny how much worse the smaller man looked than him or that he had seen the state of the office after whatever had happened. He gave a small nod. Whatever had been rising within him sank back down.

Both Siegfried and Kilik sat in silence for a short while, each waiting for the other to speak. Kilik was relieved when he felt the aura of the cursed blade fade away. The air around them was almost pure of the remaining traces of evil from the previous day and Kilik could only hope that that would last. Siegfried was unsure of exactly where to go with the conversation. He was comfortable just sitting there, but he didn't know why. He wasn't entirely trusting of a situation that almost seemed to be actively putting him at ease.

Finally, the German spoke, "Tira told me you are our only IT guy."

Kilik nodded.

There was another short pause where Siegfried gave the other man time to speak. When it was clear that he wasn't going to, the blond continued, "What, exactly, do you do?"

"I make sure our computer systems stay up and running."

Either the smaller man was trying to be a pain in his ass, or he was too tired to give full explanations. Holding back a growl, Siegfried tried again, "You are the only one in the IT department, if it can still be called a department."

"Ah," Kilik said quietly. He gave a small, knowing nod, "You want to know what you will be looking for in my replacement."

The single blue eye that showed closed for a short while before opening again and focusing on the other man. He saw no reason to lie. Somehow, trying not to admit he was thinking about restaffing the man who he had, apparently, thrown office furniture at seemed ridiculous. "If it comes to that, yes. You haven't jumped me yet and you aren't foaming at the mouth." He couldn't help but give a small smile, "I'm sure Tira will be happily surprised by that. She made you out to be some kind of lunatic."

There was a soft snort before Kilik said, "Almost a whole conversation and neither one of us has threatened physical harm or thrown anything at the other. Its a new record for us." It didn't occur to him until after he spoke that his words held an amount of rudeness to them. He didn't care enough to regret it at that moment. What he wanted to do was end this meeting and get to sleep. Of course, with what he had set up earlier, he doubted he would get sleep any time soon. It should have been spreading while they spoke.

So, the other man did have some kind of sense of humor to him. It made him seem more like a real person than some faceless guy who worked for the German. Siegfried chuckled, "Exactly. Are you going to..." whatever he was going to say trailed off as a flash on his computer screen caught his eye. "...huh?" The screen blinked once. Then twice. Then two more times before his screen seemed to dissolve into the image of a large butterfly with blue and yellow wings on a black background.


	11. The Slight Complication

A/N: Another Friday, another chapter. Whoo! I'm trying to keep updates happening at least once a week. Writing for Siegfried and Kilik talking back in forth is harder than it probably should be and I'm trying not to murder their characters or make the dialogue lame. As always, thanks to the lovely ThaleiXVII for reviewing and to all you other lovlies who are reading this story. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or the characters therein.

Eleven

The Slight Complication

For a brief moment, there was no sound in Siegfried's office beyond the whirring of the fan in his computer as it kept delicate parts from overheating. One man sat staring at the butterfly that had manifested on his screen and the other sat across from him, seemingly bored and trying to stay awake. The uneasy feeling in the German had yet to rise again, but the comfortable air that had settled was now marred by this unexpected thing before him.

He made a small 'hmm' to himself as he tested the mouse to see if it would change anything. If it turned out to be nothing more than a screen saver, he was going to feel very foolish in front of his company's only computer guy. The mouse did nothing. He tested a few keys on the keyboard for any kind of reaction. Nothing.

"Having trouble?" Kilik leaned forward in his chair, attempting to get a look at the screen as though he did not already know what image his boss was looking at. In the back of his mind, he wondered what took it so long.

Siegfried snorted quietly, leaning back in his chair. "This is more your area of expertise than mine."

The Asian got up and sauntered around to the other side of the desk that had been thrown at him a day before. He looked at the screen, then to his boss, then back to the screen again. Blue eyes were watching Kilik as he leaned over, brown eyes narrowing slightly as he reached for the keyboard. Siegfried absently noted that even the scent of this man was calming. Deftly, Kilik's fingertips moved to hit different keys in an order too rapid for Siegfried to really keep up with. The confident movements looked much more purposed than Seigfried's own tapping barely a moment prior.

It didn't take as long as Siegfreid thought it would have for the image to be replaced by that of his computer booting up again. He blinked, his good eye watching the smaller man stand up straight. "You fixed it?"

Before Kilik could answer, the office doors opened to allow a very nervous looking Tira peaked in. "Uhm... sir... I'm not sure how but..." Her words trailed off as she looked the two men over. "You!" She pointed an accusing finger at Kilik, "What are you doing to Mr. Schauffen?"

Siegfried waved it off, speaking before Kilik had a chance to say anything, "Nothing threatening, Tira. He was fixing something for me. Its all right." He really wasn't sure why the girl was so worried. Then again, if he had walked in on the sight she had the day before, he might not have been very trusting, either. Hell, he still wasn't fully convinced he should actually trust Kilik.

_You shouldn't._

The voice that slithered through Siegfried's mind was almost too quiet to hear, almost drowned out by Tira's surprised gasp and words, "No! My computer just broke! I bet he took whatever happened to yours and sent it to mine or something! He's trying to break this place down because he's about to get fired, I bet! He-"

"Wasn't able to keep it from jumping," Kilik said evenly. He was clearly unimpressed and unamused by the situation.

Two pairs of eyes turned to rest on the Asian, but it was Siegfried who spoke, "What?"

"Jumping?" Tira blinked, still convinced that whatever was happening was Kilik's doing.

The IT guy shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, "When Mr. Schauffen tried his mouse and keys, he set off a timer. It starts whenever someone tries to fix the problem. Don't get it fixed before the time is up and the virus jumps to another computer in the system. Your computer was a random selection. I've seen this kind of thing once before I came to work here."

"How do we fix it?" Siegfried asked.

"I would suggest you send everyone home. I'm going to have to reduce the number of places it can run to and no one will be able to get much done while I'm fixing things." He gave a small shrug, "Honestly, I might need a second pair of hands to help me..." His voice trailed off for a moment before he continued, "You don't have to help, though. If you would prefer to have someone else aid me instead of doing it yourself, then by all means do it, Boss." He made sure to make it sound like he didn't really expect Siegfried to bother 'getting his hands dirty' and helping his employee. Frederick would not have helped and they both knew it.

"I would rather just send everyone except you home; if you need an extra pair of hands, I'll help." Siegfried sounded almost angry when he said it, but whether it was towards being compared to his father like that or towards having to stay behind and work with Kilik was hard for the Asian to gauge.

Tira was already shaking her head, her eyes wide at the thought, "No way! Mr. Schauffen, is it really safe to stay alone with this guy? He attacked you! I'll stay and you go home! Its fine, really!" If there was any concern about the man she had labeled as violent hurting her, it didn't show on her face or in her voice. "Or have Rock stay!" Neither of the men could see through the door, but the large security guard glanced over at the secretary and gave a small nod of his head.

The blond sighed, "I don't believe that will be necessary." He turned his head slightly, looking up at the man who was standing beside him as though he were daring Kilik to say anything to the contrary, "Will it?"

Kilik shrugged, casually leaning himself back against the wall that sat just behind his boss' desk, "I don't plan on getting in any more fights." He looked thoughtful and added on, "But coffee would be appreciated."

Tira's immediate reaction was to say something along the lines of telling the Asian to get his own coffee- although, possibly somewhat more rude than that. Before she was able to get out more that half a syllable, Siegfried spoke, "Actually... that would be nice." He smiled at his secretary, trying to do something to keep her and the IT guy from getting into some kind of argument, "If you wouldn't mind, Tira... I mean, its not really your job, so if you don't want to, I would be more than happy to..." He trailed off, already fairly certain of what she would say.

"No, no, no! Of course you don't need to get it yourself!" She was shaking her head again, her green hair moving as she did so, "I don't mind getting it for you! Really!" There were a lot of women, and probably more men, out there who would probably be offended by the secretary being sent for coffee cliché, but Tira was more than happy to go with it. She wanted to be as helpful to her new boss as she had been for his father and was still feeling guilty about leaving the day before and keeping whatever had happened form happening.

When the door clicked shut after Tira had left, Siegfried turned his head again to look at the other man. He opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out at first was a tired sigh. He gave his head a small shake and tried again, "Don't antagonize Tira."

Kilik snorted, pushing himself off of the wall. He wanted to say something along the lines of 'she started it', but that seemed childish. "I'll see what I can do about the computers, but help would be appreciated. If I get lucky and get this cleared up alone, I'll let you know." In all honesty, he already know that he could deal with something like that on his own, but he wasn't going to. He still needed to talk to his boss and ensure he wasn't going to be out of a job.

The sight of the other man striding out of his office wasn't exactly an unwelcome one for the young businessman. He hadn't actually been able to say everything he had wanted to, or ask what he would be looking for in a new IT department, but it was something. At the very least, he had gotten something on what had happened when he backed out the day before. It didn't sound like anything he would normally do, but the entire situation was weird enough that the story wasn't unbelievable, either. He sat back in his chair and wondered just how smart it was to keep that man around.

Something seemed off about him, but it wasn't in a way that necessarily bothered Siegfried. The problem was how comfortable he had been with a possibly violent coworker that he might have been firing leaning so close to him. Being that close to another man was not something that bothered Siegfried- he was as comfortable with that as he was with women- but being that close to a man he hadn't known for more than a day and had gotten into an actual fight with while still feeling like he could have slept there without worry was what, in a way, worried him. It wasn't normal.


	12. The Amusing Dance

A/N: The first scentence of this chapter picks up where it was cut off in chapter ten (so long ago, I know :P ). So, if you're made of confused, just check out Sieggy's lovely conversation with Rapahel and hopefully this will make sense. Pardon in mistakes in the very small bit of French I used and I hope that this helps to shed a little light on things. Curiouser and curious, eh? Thanks to the lovely ThalieXVII for being an amazing reviewer and to all you other lovelies who stalk this story from the shadows. I love that people actually read my work. As always, please enjoy! 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

TWELVE

The Amusing Dance

"-t you are as unreasonable as your father," an unmistakably irked voice growled into his phone. Raphael de Sorel had always considered himself to be a remarkably patient man, especially when challenged with as much idiocy and boredom as he was, but his tolerance ended at the same time his call with his business rival's son had. The dull tone of a dead phone line was the only answer he got before the offending device was slammed down onto the receiver.

Sharp blue eyes narrowed as he stood from his desk in a sudden and fluid movement. No one treated Raphael in such a way! No one! The Frenchman held back the urge to snort- such a thing was far too undignified for a man such as himself- as he strode out of his office with the intent of teaching that brat just who he was dealing with. Frederick had learned of Raphael's refusal to be ignored the hard way as well. Perhaps the apple truly did not fall far from the tree.

Any who made the mistake of being in the blonde's way were met with a steely glare and found themselves averting eye contact and quickly making their way in any direction that put distance between them and Raphael. His employees knew that their boss was a man who could be very generous when the mood took him and extremely cruel when it didn't. None wished to be caught in his way when he was upset. There was a small bit of satisfaction in knowing that those who worked for him felt such fear for the man who signed their paychecks. Fear dancing behind the eyes of his lessers always did give him a particular kind of enjoyment.

Given the reason behind his current bad mood, not even the way his secretary attempted to appear as small and unobtrusive as humanly possible was enough to quell his anger. He glared down his nose at her, silently daring her to refuse to address him.

The brunette regarded her boss with a weak smile, "Yes, Mr. Sorel? How may I serve you?" It was weird to say, but he was not shy about letting people know that, in a perfect world, that was how everyone would speak to him. Of course, he would often go on to say that they would all be speaking French in a perfect world, but Talim knew that her grasp of that language was little to nothing and her lack of skill would only serve to annoy and upset her boss.

"I am heading out." His lips curled into a vicious smirk that would have put any predator to shame, "It would seem that my _dear rival_," the words dripped from his lips like venom, "needs to be taught a lesson in manners and I shall gladly teach it to him."

"Of course, sir."

He leaned forward, enjoying how she tried to be subtle about backing as far away from him as her chair would allow, and spoke in a low tone, "Should anyone call for me, you are to hang up on them immediately!"

Talim nodded, "Of course, si-"

"Actually!" Raphael cut her off as he straightened to his full height, "I take that back. Should anyone call for me, put them on hold. I shall hang up on them when I get back!" He did not view himself as petty man so much as a man who simply sought to let the world know exactly what he thought and to spread the same frustrations he so often gets subjected to to all those around him.

Without caring enough to listen to any reply from his secretary, the Frenchman strode purposefully out of his office and down the street. His stride was quick and his chin was held high with the knowledge that he was a great man burdened with great purpose: to make sure his little rival treated him with the respect he so deserved.

Years of having to put up with a family that could not fully appreciate him only to have them cast him aside from one small miscalculation fallowed by years of having to work himself ragged building up a company to such splendor that it put the rest of the Sorel family out of business- a fact he took great pride in- was no easy feat! For any lesser man, it would have been very impossible. Raphael had persevered and gotten to where he was by working. This Siegfried Schauffen had gotten where he was by waiting for a rigid old man to die. That the runt should show such disrespect to someone who was obviously his better was a slap in the face that would not be ignored or go unpunished!

A dark grin was firmly in place while he strode towards the competing company. He could have gotten his car from the parking garage and driven, but it was the kind of brisk, sunny day that Raphael enjoyed and walking would help him calm his nerves enough to keep from doing anything truly regrettable to the runt. It was going to be autumn soon; Raphael's favorite season. It was a time of cooling weather and the leaves would turn colors into something beautiful.

By the time Raphael made it through the doors of his competition, he was in a slightly better mood. He was still angry and very ready to teach the German a lesson in respect, but he knew he would be able to control himself enough to refrain from doing any physical damage to Siegfried- followed by having to talk his way out of any kind of legal reaction that could come from such a thing. Part of him wondered if 'bitter annoyance' would be more fitting a phrase at that point. His musings on how to label his own feelings quieted, fading into a different question as a single blonde brow arched at the sight that lay before him.

People were leaving the office. Some looked annoyed, some looked happy, others were relieved. No one seemed overly panicked, so it could not have been any kind of major emergency. Still, it was very early for them to be leaving. Perhaps Siegfried had done something foolish. Raphael could not, for the life of him, think of what that could be other than firing the whole lot of them- something Raphael thought about doing to his own employees from time to time, but he was not that foolish and he didn't want to think that Siegfried was, either. Seemingly unfazed by this, the Frenchman continued on.

The elevator was conveniently already at ground level, ringing and opening happily for Raphael the moment he hit the button. If only more things could be so ready to respond to his every whim. The blonde chuckled to himself as the metal box rose the ten floors to his competitor's office. He never understood why Frederick had insisted on such a large building. The man had been a penny pincher fore everything except his antiques and his building. Raphael tried not to question the workings of a tight-wound German too much, but part of him did wonder what the younger Schauffen would use the space for. He hoped it would be something amusing.

A cheery beep from the elevator signaled that Raphael had reached the tenth floor and pulled his mind away from thoughts about how to make use of so much pointless space. The metal doors slid open, allowing the businessman to glide out into the little hallway. His gaze found the green-haired secretary. He grinned and walked by her with an amount of confidence that came naturally. He knew his going towards the office without bothering to speak to her would get a reaction from the young woman. She had always been so amusing the few times he got to interact with her and this time would hopefully be no different.

Just as Raphael had known she would, Tira tried clearing her throat to get his attention before he could make it to the door. She probably thought it was less rude than simply calling out to him, but he failed to see how. Smirk firmly in place, Raphael stopped walking and turned his head to stare down his nose at the green-haired woman. Judging from the way her cheeks were reddening, she was either angry with his blatant lack of caring or she knew all too well what the look in his eyes meant as he stared at her and was embarrassed by it; possibly a mixture of the two. The look was rather appealing on her.

"Mr. Schauffen is busy at the moment, Mr. Sorel. If you wish to speak with him, I would be more than happy to make an appointment for you." She smiled as best she could when speaking to him, but it didn't quite reach her ears. It was the best professional smile she could manage. He knew that she was trying to sound polite, but there was some layer of annoyance just under her words.

Raphael gave an exaggerated shrug that he knew would further annoy the secretary, "Of course, of course. I'm sure Mr. Schauffen is very busy at the moment with his entire staff currently on their way out of the building." He crossed his arms and looked thoughtfully towards the large double doors that would take him to his rival, "I suppose he must be feeling very overwhelmed with this company that he is suddenly supposed to run. He must be needing some advice on how to do things; an outsider's perspective on what needs to be done. After all," the grin he flashed at Tira was part predatory, part condescending, and all too amused, "The help that he has surrounded himself with seems to be... lacking." He ignored the exasperated sound he was rewarded with and continued, "Fear not, young lady, for I will be more than happy to render the assistance your boss so clearly needs."

Tira was speaking again, but Raphael wasn't going to grace her with his attention. Instead, he continued to the door and slipped into the office that had once belonged to his dear old friend, Frederick. As he strode forward and sank himself into one of the chairs in front of the desk with a grace that any feline would envy, Raphael watched a single blue eye, a few shades darker than his own, slowly rise from the spot of desk Siegfried had been studying to regard the Frenchman with nothing short of annoyance. His other eye was covered and it was clear there was an injury there, which meant there must have been a story to go along with it. Curious. Very curious. Raphael made a note to ask about it as soon as a proper opening presented itself.

Studying the German from across the desk, part of the Frenchman found it amusing that his business rival didn't bother to wear a suit. Really, Raphael had been expecting a suit. Something fancy- not as well tailored as his own, but still something. Probably black in color. Frederick had always favored black. Double breasted. Either way, he had not been expected a t-shirt and he had to hold back a cringe at the realization that the other man was probably wearing jeans as well. He looked more like average riff-raff than a proper rival.

"What do you want?" That Siegfried was able to say the words without growling was impressive enough to earn him a short applause from his guest. The German scowled.

Had Raphael's grin been any wider at the irritated expression he was being given, it would have threatened to split his face in two. His voice, however, held as much annoyance as amusement, "I wish to speak to you, mon ami. Something I had attempted earlier, but I suppose the call must have dropped." His next words were a little lower; the tone he used when he wanted to intimidate, to be feared, "After all, you would not have been so rude as to hang up on me, correct?" He wondered what kind of excuse the runt would give him.

"Wrong." Siegfried snorted, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms, "The call didn't drop, I hung up on you because you're annoying." The German had never been one to shy away from a fight. Hell, he had been raised to face such things head on and to come out on top no matter what. It was one of the lessons his father had engrained in him from a young age.

Such a truthful answer was not expected, but Raphael couldn't quite bring himself to be too offended over it. From anyone else, he would have made sure they regretted their words, but from the man who was to be his rival, it was somewhat... enticing. After all, the Frenchman did so love a challenge. Simple bullying would not be enough to make this man back down. Interesting.

Raphael licked his lips and gave a small 'tut' before speaking, "I see. I had been worried, mon ami, that you would have difficulty in our line of work and that I would not have anyone to amuse myself with after the passing of your father. It would seem that I was wrong about you."

"Great," Siegfried made it clear in his voice that he felt the situation was anything but. That dark blue eye never left its lighter counterparts and, as he spoke, Raphael could have sworn he saw something else drift behind them, "Now get out."

Defiantly, Raphael propped his feet up on the other man's desk. Not only was he not going to leave, but he was going to make himself comfortable as he stayed. "Non. You see, I have trouble getting through such boring days and these little conversations are what keep me going. You can only imagine how upsetting it was for me to lose them with your father dying and you taking so long to take his place."

Again, there was a flash of something in the German's eye before he spoke. "Yes. It must have been so difficult for you. Unfortunately, Mr. Sorel, I don't give a rat's ass how traumatic it must be for you to have to ride out 'such boring days'. I am not something with which you can entertain yourself. Out. Now." This time, he did growl. Raphael had been surprised the shorter man had been able to hold it in for so long, but he couldn't have been too surprised by a German losing their temper. Such barbarians sometimes.

Siegfried stood, probably to emphasize his point in some way. In response,Raphael stood as well. He was not going to be bulled by some runt and that was final. However, Siegfried's step faltered slightly as he moved towards his unwanted guest. When he regained himself, he seemed more confident than he had before, which was honestly somewhat impressive given how incredibly not intimidated he had been the entire time. By the time the two were face to face, the height difference was more than apparent, but Siegfried did not seem to care much as he stared up into his rival's eyes.

The eye regarding him seemed... red. He had been sure Siegfried was a blue-eyed man. Perhaps he had been wrong? Perhaps this had been what had been sliding beneath the surface of the other man. Of course, being stared at like that was somewhat distracting and the Frenchman found himself unable to fully concentrate on what the color of the eye staring him down -should- have been. It took a surprising amount of the Frenchman's impressive force of will to keep from backing down before that gaze and apologizing. He really wasn't the type to say 'sorry' for anything and he wasn't about to change that fact just because of some runt. An impressive runt, but a runt all the same.

"I do believe I have already made myself clear." Raphael's voice was quiet. With the man he was speaking to standing so close, there was no need to speak too loudly. Besides, his voice was very good at conveying anger while low and quiet, like some kind of cold fury. "I am going to get my daily conversations whether you like it or not. If you hang up on me, you will keep finding me in your office speaking with you in person. Honestly, it would be easier on both of us if you could just suffer through one phone call a day."

There was a brief pause when Rapahel wasn't sure if he was about to be attacked or not. He wasn't going to back down and would be more than happy to defend himself if anything did occur. Luckily, he didn't have to. Unexpectedly, Siegfried began to smirk, "Very well." There was a hint of something to his voice that had not been there previously, "Keep making your calls." A slender blonde eyebrow rose; Raphael prompting the other to continue. Siegfried did not disappoint. "My _father_," there was something odd about the way he saw it, but Raphael could relate- he and his father were not exactly on the best of terms, "Saw fit to allow you to keep up these little talks, so perhaps there is some value to you."

The words made Raphael bristle slightly. There were few who would dare insinuate ever feeling that he had no value and fewer still were those who acted as though _they_ had the right to _allow him_ to speak with them. There was something else- in the way the words were delivered- that almost made them seem like Raphael was speaking to a completely different man. Still, he would not back down and he would not lose. His head tilted slightly up to exaggerate the difference in their sizes as he glared down his nose at the German. "If you wish to stay in this game for long, _mon ami_, I would advise you choose your words more carefully when speaking to me. I realize that growing up in a German household is tantamount to being raised by **dogs**, but please do pretend to have some manners, yes? Failure to do so is most unbecoming!" The words had been meant to be scathing and get a rise out of the run, but they seemed lost on the other man who calmly turned and strode back to his seat behind the desk.

As though to emphasize his lack of caring about anything Raphael had just said, Siegfried reclined in his seat. He even propped his feet up on the desk as the Frenchman had done earlier and rested his hands behind his head. The very picture of satisfied comfort, "Is that your bit of advice for the day or was there something else you felt like sharing?"

Something had changed about the situation and Raphael felt as though he was, once again, the inexperienced young businessman being chastised. This man was more like Frederick than he had given him credit for, but it didn't seem like the same runt he had been dealing with over the phone and when he first entered the room. For the first time in a very long time, Raphael had no witty comeback or observation or anything. He was speechless. His hands balled into fists and his head shook, "Non. Until tomorrow, Monsieur Schauffen."

Turning on his heel, Raphael strode out of the office feeling no better than he had when he entered. He would have to keep an eye on that man. There were too many interesting and unexpected things happening with him not to. His quick mind was already working out possible reasons for the sudden change and how best to deal with the runt. At least, he reasoned, things would not be boring.

He ignored the secretary as he hit the button for the elevator. It gave a happy 'ding' as the metal doors slid open, allowing him to enter. In his foul mood, he resented the sound, as well as the music that played in the elevator the entire ten floor ride. When it gave that infuriatingly cheerful sound again, he found himself striding towards the exit. Part of him mourned the fact that there were no stray workers around to vent his frustration upon.

Clear blue eyes glanced around, hoping to find some hapless sap to intimidate. He found none, but something did catch his eye and forced him to give pause. Through and open door that must have lead to one of the rooms that would usually filled with people on computers working like good little cogs in the corporate machine, he saw several lit screens. Each one was featuring a butterfly. A very familiar butterfly. A slow smirk crossed his features as he recalled exactly why the image was familiar.

It had been the calling card of the man who had hacked into his own business once upon a time. Instead of threats of interfering with things or stealing data, the man had asked for a job. He could still remember a calm voice explaining that anyone who could get around the defenses Raphael's people had set up was clearly well equipped to protect against any more such attacks. The Frenchman had been so amused by the little stunt, he hired the man on the spot and had a very adept employee for quite some time.

Until Frederick had gotten a hold of his skilled IT guy.

It seemed as though the man was now pulling a similar stunt on Siegfried. That, or he was in the process of quitting in a way that the German would not soon forget. Raphael decided he would remember this and continued walking. Things were certainly getting interesting.


	13. The Easy Solution

A/N: It would seem I was a tad more productive than I thought I would be and am posting another chapter up early... I'm not a fan of ruining my 'this is when things come out' schedule, but it can't be all bad if things are coming out early instead of late, yeah? I want to give a quick thank you to the lovely ThalieXVII for being a faithful reviewer and another thank you to 1wngdngl for being amazing and reviewing! I have a love/hate relationship with Raphael, so I love making him arrogant and like a baws about as much as I love taking him down a notch or two. ^.~ To you two lovelies and all the silent lovelies who continue to read, as always, I hope you enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or the characters therein.

THIRTEEN

The Easy Solution

Whether it was because of the mid-day light shining in through the large window behind the desk or because of the air that was circulating through the ventilation system was unclear. What was clear was that the office in which the demon sat was somewhat hotter than he was comfortable with. He would have to keep in mind that the body he was occupying was more partial to a cool climate. That might present a problem when he rejoined with the rest of the blade, but those were thoughts for later. He supposed he could always find another host before then.

Other than the heat, the demon found himself comfortable as he lounged at his desk, replaying the scene that had just happened in his mind over and over. Siegfried had been a touch harder to push aside than he anticipated. Ultimately, it did not matter and he had been able to regain control of the body, but the fact that he had to put more effort into it than he had expected was troubling. It might have had to do with that Asian man purifying the room the last time the two of them spoke. That man had been the thing to keep him from taking over again earlier. Only two days in his host after countless years of being trapped left him weakened.

Every bit of the demon was screaming at him to either kill the Asian or put as much distance between them as possible until he was strong enough to regain control of the other man. He knew he had, at one point, taken that one. He could feel a lingering taint resting under the surface. There was no way it faded with time spent away from the blade; for it to be as slight as it was would have required more time than the other man could have possibly been alive. That meant the taint had been purified away. The Asian had had the ability to purify. He had felt it when they last interacted and he could feel it lingering in his office. It was making it difficult to maintain control. Clearly, he was dealing with a monk.

The demon could not take either of his preferred options at the moment. If he was to continue in this 'modern' world, he would have to utilize his resources and the most valuable of those he had other than his host was the company his host owned. Nobility, it seemed, did not run in the blood anymore. It ran in the wallet and the wallet was fed through this place. In the past, the demon had used the status of a lord to have his will done upon the world while preparing for his glorious bloody rampage. Using this company to keep his host a wealthy man would allow him to do much the same. To keep the company going, he had to interact with the monk. Help the monk. As soon as he could, he would find a replacement for that man.

Unwilling to deal with the Asian again face to face, the demon grudgingly slipped back into his host and allowed Siegfried control of the body once more. He would remain deep within the German, hiding within the darkest parts of the man's soul. The demon knew the monk wouldn't be able to detect him and could only hope that he could find some way of using his host to distract the Asian from searching for and attempting to purify his presence. The demon would have to keep a low profile until he was strong enough to deal with this problem.

* * *

The room slowly bled through the darkness and into focus around a very confused German. He blinked a few times, wondering how he had gotten back into his chair and why his feet were propped up. He remembered talking with the IT guy and Tira got him coffee- which she managed to make just how he liked it without having to ask, but that was probably because he and his father were identical in how they took their coffee and he didn't doubt she had gotten Frederick more than a few cups during the time she worked for him. Once the cup was empty, he had been planning on checking on the IT guy to see if there was anything he could do to help speed up the process of fixing the computers as well as making sure everyone else had left. He might not have been very good with business things, but he was able to see that paying people for doing literally nothing- really, what else could they do in that situation?- was a bad move.

Then Raphael had shown up. He had walked in before Siegfried had even been able to get out of his seat and the two of them had had a discussion. Blue eyes widened slightly and scanned the office for any sign of the Frenchman.

Nothing.

Whatever words had passed between them were over now and Raphael had left to go wherever it was he went when he wasn't bugging Siegfried. The blonde was glad for that, but it didn't tell him exactly what had happened. Trying to remember the conversation was of no use. Everything they had said to each other was a blur and he couldn't even remember anything beyond standing up to... do something.

_Must be the stress again..._

There was that voice again, sliding through his mind with thoughts that weren't entirely his own. Unless it was his subconscious. Siegfried couldn't be sure. Had he been the kind of man to have any respect for psychiatrists, Siegfried might have resolved to speak to one in the near future if these episodes continued, but he didn't honestly think they could help. As far as he was concerned, they were just guys who charged too much to sit around, nod, and tell him something about missing his father or childhood issues or, really, anything that sounded like they knew what they were talking about to keep him going back and paying them for their 'advice'. He had no use for such things.

After a firm shake of his head, the German stood. He didn't have any answers to his questions about what had happened, or where his business rival had gone, but that didn't mean he no longer had things to do. In his spare time, he could sit around and wonder. In the current, he had an IT guy to speak with and some computers to fix. He really hoped the other man wouldn't need too much from him. Computers weren't exactly Siegfried's specialty.

He hadn't honestly expected to find Tira and Rock still waiting outside when he finally made his way out of the office, but part of him felt he probably should have. He sighed internally, trying to smile without any hint of chagrin, but he had the feeling it bled through anyway, "You haven't gone home yet?"

Tira's bright smile at the sight of her boss wilted a little around the edges and her odd colored eyes drifted down to study her keyboard, "...we weren't sure if it was alright..." Her voice seemed small and it made Siegfried want to feel bad for her, but that didn't change that he had told them to go and they didn't.

Resisting the urge to frown or shake his head or give off some other indication of annoyance was harder than it should have been and the German found himself sighing quietly before he spoke, "Just go home, Tira. I'm sure you've been working very hard since my father passed away, so go get some rest. I'll be fine." He looked over at the head of security, "You, too, Rock."

"Sir," the large man's voice was as deep as Siegfried had expected it to be and managed to sound both soft and annoyed at the same time, "My job is to make sure everything here is safe. Leaving you alone with a man who attacked you would be the opposite of that."

Siegfried shook his head, "No, you would not be doing your job well if you left me alone with a man who attacked me." He didn't like being like his father, but he was beginning to realize that being nice wouldn't get him anywhere with the people who were supposed to be working **for** him, not **against** him. "But, he did not attack me. I attacked him and he responded. I won't make that mistake again tonight. Besides, you both saw him. Even if I did get attacked again, it wouldn't be anything I couldn't handle." His grin held a small threat within, daring them to question him- it was a facial expression he had seen many times in his youth and had used once or twice years ago while in school, "Go home, alright?"

He didn't wait for a verbal response from the two so much as strode forward and pressed the button that would summon the elevator. The wait for the metal doors to slide open and allow them entrance was not a long one, and Siegfried made sure to hold it open until the other two filed in. He fallowed them, finding that one of them- probably Tira- had already hit the button to go down to the lobby floor.

The ride down was uncomfortable, but Siegfried didn't let it show. The other two could pout all they wanted about whether or not they felt they were doing their job properly. He was the boss and he would not allow them to do as they pleased when it was the exact opposite of what he had told them to do. Suddenly, a lot of his father's lack of patience with him made more sense. Having to deal with uncooperative people at work would make dealing with an uncooperative child at home much less appealing than it already would have been. Siegfried could only hope his face never set into a permanent scowl the way it seemed to have done on his father's face.

Metal doors slid open with their usual 'beep' and the three occupants silently stepped out. Siegfried walked the other two to the entrance, making sure they actually left before he turned and walked to the small office he had wandered into the first day he had arrived. The German wasn't sure if he should knock or just walk in- after all, it was his company, so he shouldn't have to knock...

Regardless, he raised his hand and gently tapped on the door a few times. He could hear the sound of typing and, over that, the IT guy's voice, "Come in."

He entered a room that was mostly dark, save for the nearly blinding part in the center that was heavily illuminated by several computer monitors. If this was how the other man usually kept things, it was a mystery to Siegfried how he wasn't blind. Blue eyes blinked a few times, trying to grow accustomed to the heavy contrast between the monitors and the rest of the room, but it was to no avail. He felt along the wall and flipped the light switch when he found it. Immediately, the room was flooded with yellow electric light, making things much better for one man and much worse for the other.

Kilik gave a small, but very surprised, shout and covered his eyes. Slowly, he lowered his hand and soft brown eyes blinked a few times, cautiously, to adjust to the new lighting. "...why would you do that?" He would have sounded much more upset than he did, but the whole point of this was to not get fired, so he had to play nice with his boss.

The amused snort that Siegfried gave was impossible to hold back. He shrugged, walking further into the room, towards the other man, "I couldn't see." Looking at the smaller man, who was still trying to get used to the light, it was hard for the German to believe anyone thought he was in any kind of real danger.

Slowly, the world came back into view and Kilik turned back to face the computer he had just been working on to keep himself from glaring at his boss. "I have it narrowed down to this room. I made sure all the other computers were cut off from the system and isolated it to these four computers." He motioned towards the other terminals surrounding him before going back to what he had been doing.

A blonde eyebrow rose, "Why do you need four?"

"I don't," Kilik finally looked back over to his boss with a small smirk, "There used to be four guys working this department."

Siegfried glanced around at the small office, his arms crossing, "My father wouldn't have paid four people if it wasn't a four person job." He knew for a fact that his father was a penny-pincher and would not have hired more people than needed for the job.

Kilik chuckled, running a hand through his hair, "No, he wouldn't have."

"So..." Siegfried trailed off, not exactly sure what to say.

Luckily for the German, his IT guy knew what he was getting at. "It is a four person job. With a place as big as this and everything that could break, or if you wanted some kind of supervisor, it might even be a five person. I'm the only one here now because I convinced your father he didn't need the other three guys."

"I see," Siegfried gave a small smirk, looking around the room once more, "Until something like this happens and you need help?" He didn't know much about the brunette, but judging by the fact that the man had gotten three other people fired because he felt he was good at what he did, he was willing to wager that that comment would ruffle a feather or two.

Kilik looked his boss over and shrugged, "It would have been worse with a team of people. They wouldn't have figured out how to deal with this as quickly as I did." He walked passed the taller man to another computer and leaned over, hitting a few keys. He wouldn't have had to lean if there had been a chair there, but there was only one chair in the office and it was in front of the computer he usually worked at. He spoke without glancing over at the other man, "The one I was just at, I need you there. When I say so, just hit 'enter'."

Blue eyes fallowed the Asian as he moved to the other computer. They lingered slightly on the other man's back side as he bent over at the keyboard. Judging from what he saw, the other man either had amazing luck in his genes or he worked out, because no one who did nothing but sit at a desk all day could look that good in those pants. When he heard Kilik speak again, he nodded.

"That's all?" Siegfried wasn't sure exactly what that would help, but he wasn't the computer guy there.

"Yes." Normally, Kilik would have left it at that, but he was trying to be nice to the other man and keep his job, so he forced himself to explain what he was doing, "This thing jumps with a pattern. I have everything on that computer set up so all you'll need to do is press enter. When I'm done at this one, it will jump to that one and be finished." He wasn't a fan of talking. Between growing up at the Temple and working alone with computers, he never really developed people skills.

The room was quiet for a bit as one man messed with his computer and the other stood, waiting. After a moment, Siegfried decided to sit down as he waited; the chair was right there and Kilik wasn't using it, so he didn't see the harm. He really didn't know what the hell the Asian was doing, but he didn't care so long as it worked. He glanced at the other man out of the corner of his eye. Whatever calm he felt around the IT guy earlier that day was no longer there. He didn't feel any more apprehensive than usual, but he wasn't feeling abnormally peaceful either. At least neither of them were starting a fight. He still wasn't sure how he lost his temper enough to assault anyone and this man didn't seem like the type to get easily worked up either. It didn't make sense.

"Now." Kilik was calm as he turned his head to watch his boss.

Siegfried pressed the button and wasn't sure what to expect. The butterfly had shown up on the screen as he pressed the button and then it was gone. He would have been relieved if the screen hadn't flickered and shut off immediately after.

Kilik was chuckling from somewhere in the room, "Should have known something like that would happen." It wasn't that he didn't already know so much as his plan would backfire the moment his boss found out he had engineered the entire situation. He wasn't going to let that happen.

"What happened?" Siegfried got up from the chair and took a step towards the other man.

"Nothing too bad," Kilik said, voice still amused. "The computers all shut down. We could turn them all on now or have it wait until tomorrow morning. What do you want to do, Boss?"

"Tomorrow sounds good," Siegfried said as he took another look around the room at the blank screens. "We're done here, right?"

"We are," the brunette replied as he started for the door. He could hear the foot steps of the other man behind him. "Then... I'll see you tomorrow morning? Or was this my last day?"


	14. The Peaceful Meal Pt 1

A/N: Another early chapter... two in one week, isn't it? . Really, I know that not everyone celebrats the 4th of July 'cause the world doesn't revolve around the USA, but I freaking love holidays so I busted out a copious amount of food and drink and had a grand time with friends- the important part being that I'm in a very good mood and totally throwing out a new chapter now. Honestly, what I had written was so long, I had to split it into two as opposed to having one ridiculous chapter when there was a perfectly good pausing point in the middle. I'll spare you awesome people the funny story about what I realized while writing this. xD Thank you to the lovely ThalieXVII for the encouraging words and for liking my wordy style (I'm glad you don't find it all boring) and a thank you for the lovely 1wngdngl for liking Kilik. To all you silent lovelies still reading this: thank you for reading my work. The pace is slow (I am sorry for that) and I will try to pick it up, but it may take a little while. I don't want to rush important moments, even if the don't seem important at the time (if that even makes sense). Less stalling, more posting! As always, please enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or the characters therein.

FOURTEEN

The Peaceful Meal Pt. 1

The laziness with which the car passed by the buildings of the city's center was at odds with the hectic nature of the past couple of days and Kilik couldn't help but give a bitter smile at the contrast. He wasn't sure when the sun had gone down- he made sure his office didn't get much light, so he hadn't noticed it getting darker until Siegfried blinded him with the lights- but it had happened some time before he had gotten out of the office. The lack of sun made the pale yellow light showing out from the windows of offices that were still filled with working people stand out from the few dark buildings where everyone had already gone home for the day. Everything outside looked calm and peaceful- business as usual- as brown eyes watched them go by from the passenger seat of his boss' car.

In truth, that virus would have been much more of a pain to deal with if it had been made up of better-written code, and Kilik knew very well that he could have done much, much better, but he didn't need something that would actually give him trouble. He needed something to look bad, something to get Siegfried's attention and hopefully get him alone with Kilik long enough for the two to talk without being interrupted by annoying secretaries or anything else that could happen. There was no guarantee that Kilik wouldn't have to confront the demon again, but it was a risk worth taking. Besides, he figured the thing was still weakened from its dormancy.

Things went as well as the former monk could have hoped. His boss sent everyone else home and stayed behind with him while he took care of the problem- Kilik had even been able to arrange things to make it look like he honestly needed the blonde there with him. The two hadn't fought, which was as good as it could have gotten. The virus was taken care of and things would be back to business as usual tomorrow. Kilik was more than able to take credit for that fact and knew it would score him a few points with his new boss, especially if his boss realized how much they could stand to lose by being out of business for longer than they had been. Hell, they had lost a good amount of money by being out for the shot time they were.

When it was all said and done, Kilik had asked if that day had been his last or not. He could only hope the situation he had engineered would be enough to allow him to keep his job for a while longer. Siegfried hadn't given a definite yes or no, but he did offer the former monk a ride home. It had been a surprise, but it was one the IT guy could work with, so he accepted.

The walk to the parking garage was made in a silence that was not excruciatingly awkward, but it was not especially pleasant either. Kilik had been shocked to find that his boss did not drive the kind of expensive, or showy, car that he had been expecting. Instead, Siegfried lead him to an older model that looked like it had seen more than its fair share of miles. The paint was a tired shade of green that peaked out through a layer of dust that told the story of far too many months since last being washed. The engine couldn't have been anything better than a six cylinder, but Kilik was willing to bet that even that was being generous. It probably had a four. Neither the locks nor the windows were automatic, but it had seat belts and a working radio- even if it was one of the older ones with a place for cosset tapes, but not CDs. It was oddly humble and Kilik liked his boss a little better for it.

The sound of Siegfried's voice broke Kilik from his musings about the oddly charming car, "Have you eaten today?"

"No," the monk said softly, still watching the world drift by outside the car window. He had the feeling he knew where this conversation was going to go and briefly wondered if he should be thankful for the chance to get to talk to his boss more. If there hadn't been a demon laying deep within the other man, Kilik would not have wanted to spend more time with him than he had to. There was no harbored hatred for the German, but Kilik did not consider himself a 'people person' and usually preferred to keep himself distanced. It was harder to be hurt by loss when there wasn't much of anything to lose.

In reality, Kilik had always been one of the quiet ones at the Temple. When his teacher- the only man he honestly looked up to and cared about in a way that probably should have been reserved for his parents, had they kept him- decided to give himself up to the holy blade and changed, the then young monk became even more withdrawn. Save for the time he spent with Xiba and the sibling-like bond he and Xianglin had somehow formed, Kilik attempted to maintain an aloofness towards others. In his years away from the Temple, this attitude never changed. If anything, his dislike of other people had only grown. Outside the Temple, people were rude, self-serving, unlearned, and undisciplined. He found himself having little patience towards people who had a tendency to blame their problems on any reason that took the blame off of themselves.

"Me neither." Again, Siegfried's voice drew Kilik's attention towards the present moment. If the uneasy chuckle was anything to go by, his boss was uncomfortable with the situation, but attempting to be friendly. "We should stop somewhere."

It would have been easy, almost second nature, for the former monk to refuse the suggestion- politely or not, though the former was much more likely, given the situation-, but the chance to get to know the other man better and hopefully gain some bit of trust caused a different set of words to tumble out when Kilik parted his lips to speak, "We should."

Blue eyes chanced a glance at the man sitting next to him before resettling on the road, "Alright..." He licked his lips in either a nervous gesture or out of irritation- Kilik could not tell which- before continuing, "Is there anywhere particular you would like to go?" A curious glance from the man next to him caused Siegfried to elaborate, "Having to work on that virus thing did make you miss diner and I'm not really picky about food."

Coming from a man who was not overly round- in fact, from what Kilik could tell, the German was very physically fit- it was an odd thing to hear, but it was another small stroke of luck that Siegfried didn't already have some drive-through in mind or something. A small smile curled the Asian's lips at fate for giving him so many chances and he gave a small shrug, "Anywhere that isn't fast food." Going through a drive-through wouldn't take very long and time was something he would need if he was going to get his boss to trust him. If opening up was as easy for Kilik as it was for his room mate, he might have had his boss eating out of the palm of his hand and allowing him to try to exercise the demon without question already, but that was not the case at all.

A slight frown of confusion overtook Siegfried's features for a moment before he nodded, "Alright then." He didn't know enough about the other man to be surprised by the apparent dislike of something that had been a staple of Siegfried's diet while he was in college, so he didn't really question it. Perhaps his passenger was some kind of health nut? Given the blonde's eating habits, he really hoped he wouldn't have to deal with some preachy vegan.

In a rare moment of open-ness, the former monk blurted out, "There's a small dinner not to far from here." It wasn't usually his style to suggest a place, but he wasn't sure how well Siegfried knew the area and didn't want to risk ending up somewhere that wouldn't have much for a person like him to eat. Unlike his boss, he was a bit of a picky eater. "If you don't mind."

Kilik was answered with a smile from his boss, "I don't mind. Actually, I haven't lived around here since I was a kid, so I don't really know the city like I used to."

It didn't take too long for them to navigate the quiet city streets to the dinner Kilik had suggested. The building was one Siegfried vaguely remembered from childhood and one Kilik would likely never forget from his first night in an alien city with an odd man and barely any understanding of the world he was suddenly a part of. The building was old and it seemed as though the owners of the place made no attempt to make it look anything but, aside from changing the light bulbs occasionally to keep the entire place from falling into darkness. The outside might have been white once, but time and weather had changed that to a faded shade of yellow. There were few plants between the parking lot and the building, probably due to a lack of space for them- not that it mattered, they were mostly brown and dying.

Before exiting the car, Siegfried unwrapped the bandages from his head. It had stopped throbbing hours ago and it didn't itch- besides, he didn't feel like getting any kind of questioning stares or anything. He could feel brown eyes settling on his face, taking in what had been under the wrappings. The expression he was being given from the man next to him was unreadable. Not too sure what he would find, but still wanting to know, Siegfried pulled down the sun-guard and flipped open the little mirror on it. He did not expect the reflection that greeted him, but it wasn't an entirely unwelcome surprise.

The wound looked as healed as it would likely get- all that remained from the gash in his face the day before was a neat scar going vertically down his eye. The part that surprised him was that the scare itself didn't look pink or fresh or in any way new- it looked old, as though it was from something that had happened months- years?- ago. He had always been a quick healer but this was much faster than usually. Really, though, Siegfried didn't see much point in worrying overs something that couldn't have been bad. If the wound was still bleeding, it would have been worth fussing over. This was acceptable. It was even kind of cool looking, as perfectly centered as it was in relation to his eye. Almost too perfect to have been an accident, but...

"Whatever happened yesterday," Siegfried said quietly as he turned, looking at the man next to him with both eyes, "I kind of like this. If I'm going to have a scar, it may as well be one I don't mind seeing in the mirror every morning." He didn't wait for a response before getting out of the car and heading for the building. He could hear Kilik moving behind him, hurrying to catch up.

Opening the doors assaulted the two men with strong scents of coffee and breakfast food, along with a stale smoke smell that was a staple for a place like that despite the fact that smoking had been banned from the establishment for years, thanks to a law that had been passed by people who were either paranoid of cancer or just wanted to piss off smokers for the hell of it. The walls were a pale yellow that managed not to clash with the dull brown carpet that covered the floor. The table tops were a pale tan color that did not match the bright red of the chairs and booths. Somehow, everything seemed to fit together and weave an atmosphere of calm that managed to seep into the patrons, like some kind of homey warmth that went deeper than skin. It was probably the only reason the small establishment got enough business to maintain operation.

The two strolled to a booth towards the back of the place and slid in across from each other. There were few people, so they were given the illusion of privacy and were spared from having to listen to the conversations being held by the other three occupied tables- a couple of kids who couldn't have been out of high school, an elderly couple, and a large family who seemed to be constantly whistling and beckoning for their server, respectively. Normally, Kilik wouldn't have bothered to pay attention to such things enough to be upset by them, but it looked like there was only one server on shift and he had the feeling she would be irritated. He decided to make sure not to upset her further for fear of finding something unsavory in his food as a result.

Mostly out of a habit developed from frequenting the place with his room mate, Kilik grabbed two menus from their place nestled behind the napkin dispenser and passed one across the table while keeping the other in front of himself. He flipped through it idly, barely bothering to glance at the items on the page that he had seen enough to have already memorized. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his boss actually looking the laminated thing over- blue eyes moving faster than Kilik would have expected from one item to the next.

Neither man spoke until the waitress came over and introduced herself as their server before a

asking for their drink orders. Without hesitation both men said, "Coffee, please." The waitress quirked thin eyebrow at them and gave a knowing smirk before telling them she'd be back with their drinks and turned to leave. Kilik watched her dark pony-tail bob slightly as she walked and couldn't help but feel he missed something important. Siegfried, on the other hand shook his head and went back to looking over the menu.

"I guess," Siegfried broke the silence slowly, his voice quiet as he was still somewhat distracted with the task of choosing what he wanted, "It does look kind of like that."

Brown eyebrows rose in confusion, "Like what?" Kilik was sure he had missed something important.

Siegfried set the menu down and looked the man across the table over with a quiet snort, "You know... two men come in together in the middle of the night. One looks like a normal human being and the other looks like some kind of..." He waved a hand vaguely in Kilik's direction as though struggling with what words to use, "You look like and exhausted and rumpled businessman." Normally, he would never use the word 'rumpled', but he really couldn't think of a better way to describe a man who looked like he hadn't changed since the day before and had been slapped around a bit. Not a lot for permanent damage, but enough to bring the phrase 'keep the pimp hand strong' to Siegfried's mind. He doubted the man across the table would be amused by that description, though.

For the span of a few heart beats, Kilik stared at his boss. He was by no means a fool, but his quick mind couldn't equate what them both ordering the same drink and what they looked like had to do with each other. He shrugged, venturing a guess, "So... it looks like two men who have differing opinions about what to wear both happen to drink coffee."

The German snorted, "Not quite." He shook his head and looked more amused than Kilik was comfortable with as he spoke, "If you looked worse, I would have thought she thought I was being nice to a crazy homeless man, but she probably thinks I hired you for the night. Maybe she thinks we already finished."

"Hired me?" The Asian's voice was dead-pan and it occurred to him that whatever second-wind he had caught while working had faded in the car and he was suddenly feeling much more tired than he had before. He wasn't putting two and two together like he should have been, "Technically your father hired me, but by looking at us how would she know that you're my bo-"

He was cut off by a half-amused, half-frustrated German, "Prostitute." Siegfried picked the menu up and started to glance over it again, "She probably thinks you look like a prostitute."

Silence stretched out between them as Kilik gaped at his boss, the barest of blushes giving a soft pink tint to his cheeks. He wasn't the kind of man that thought about _those _kinds of things and he most definitely found it unnerving when people associated him with _that_. Really, though, it did serve to illustrate how one-track-minded Westerners could be. It was like they could relate anything to _that_. The subject had been very tabboo at the Temple and Kilik had never had enough interest in it after leaving his home to treat it as anything but. It was something his room mate teased him about almost endlessly for a while after their first meeting- only coming up in conversation in recent years when the older man was willing to risk getting hit.

Blue eyes glanced over the menu at his now-sulking companion and he gave another soft snort and the barest of smirks. He didn't realize the other man would be so offended by something like that. Not many people would have been proud of being thought of as a whore, but he was acting like some kind of virgin or something. A small shake of his head and Siegfried was back to looking at the different foods printed on the page before him. Everything looked really good. Since the day before he had been hungry in a way he hadn't felt since he was going through a growth spurt as a kid. He chalked it up to stress, the same excuse he was using for a lot of things recently, and left it at that.

By the time the waitress came back, Kilik was sunken back into the cushions of the booth and almost hiding behind a menu. Siegfried could only grin at how amused she looked. She set two cups of coffee and a bowl filled with little creamer shots between them. "Are y'all ready to order?" Her accent didn't quite fit in with the rest of the city, but it did add to the quaintness of the restaurant and Siegfried had to imagine it boosted the tips she got. Whether or not the accent was real didn't much matter.

Siegfried spared a glance at the man sulking across from him and rolled his eyes at the sight. He smiled pleasantly at the waitress, "I think we are."

"What can I get you?" She had her little note book out and a blue crayon at the ready.

"Can I get the number one burger as raw as you can serve it," Siegfried would have stopped there, but his stomach gave a growl that encouraged him to add on, "And a side order of onion rings?"

"Did you want that with onion rings instead of fries or with fries and an extra order of onion rings on the side?"

"Fries with an extra order of onion rings, please." Part of him wanted to order a whole other meal, but Siegfried refrained.

"And you, Sweetie?" The waitress gave Kilik a small smile and the former monk wasn't sure if he should have been insulted or if he was just being tired and maybe a little irritable.

"A Caesar salad, please," the IT guy said quietly, busying himself with collecting more than a few sugar packets from their holder at the end of the table and dumping them into his coffee.

"With grilled or fried chicken?"

With just the barest hint of discomfort, Kilik glanced up at the waitress, "Neither, please."

"Sure thing." She gave him a knowing and somewhat sympathetic smile before turning and walking away, her pony-tail bobbing happily behind her again.

Siegfried was only able to hold back his laughter for as long as it took the waitress to walk out of ear-shot, although with how loud he was laughing, Kilik doubted she could have missed it. The Asian groaned quietly and continued to pour sugar into his coffee. Nine packets later and it was ready to drink.


	15. The Peaceful Meal Pt 2

A/N: Sorry for any errors in this chapter... I'm really sleepy, but its Friday so I'm going to post anyways. The second half of the last chapter (so long... that's why I had to chop it in two while writing. x.x) and you get another character introduction! Thank you so much to the lovely ThalieXVII- who is amazing about not minding my slow-paced rambling style! Thanks to all my lovely readers silently stalking this story. As always, enjoy! 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or the characters therein.

The Peaceful Meal Pt. 2

The almost claustrophobic darkness pressing in on the dinner from outside mingled with the dim lighting and ambient sounds of the establishment to create an atmosphere that would have been very relaxing for Siegfried if it weren't for the man sitting across from him who seemed hell-bent on giving himself diabetes. Somehow the silence that hung between the two felt like more than just a lack of conversation. It had become something thicker than it should have been, as though a force was actively making the air surrounding the table heavy to suppress any kind of dialogue from getting started. It was unnerving and the exact opposite of the comfort Siegfried had felt with the other man at the very beginning of the day. Considering that that very comfort had been unnerving to the German, it was hard to say whether the situation he found himself in was better or worse than it had been then.

Across the table, Kilik was too busy trying not to fall asleep to worry about whether or not he was talking to his boss. His perfectly planned time to convince the other man that he was worth not firing and enough of a good person to spend time with had neglected to include that he was still human and very vulnerable to tiring. Being an insomniac had caused him to not factor his lack of sleep into the equation as something important because he often went without sleep; it was the part where he had been fighting with a demon the night before and then purifying an office the morning after that had left him as drained as he felt. Still, if this time he had with the blonde didn't work out, he doubted he would be able to get a second chance. Not without doing something drastic and he was in no mood for that.

Luckily for Kilik, Siegfried was too German to let any oppressive atmosphere stop him from commenting on something that was on his mind. He stared at the Asian before him and asked, "Isn't there some kind of rule against health nuts drinking cups of sugar with a splash of coffee?"

"The coffee is only really there to make the sugar easier to drink," came the calm, if not exhausted reply from the smaller man, who then took a long sip of his drink as though that somehow emphasized his point.

Taking an equally long sip of his own coffee- black and unsweetened, as nature intended- might not have seemed like any kind of act of retaliation to anyone else, but it did to Siegfried and he was fairly certain the man across from him would get his point. He set the cup down and continued to stare at the IT guy, "That isn't helping your case."

The first response Siegfried was given was a yawn as Kilik stretched his arms above his head- completely oblivious to the man across from him raising a single gold brow as blue eyes traveled his form. After that, Kilik said, "Maybe there is something forbidding a good drink from a health nut." Siegfried snorted and was going to make a comment about their differing opinions of the what made a 'good drink', but he never got the chance as Kilik continued to speak, "But, I am not a health nut."

As though specifically to counteract his statement, the waitress stopped by and dropped off their food. Kilik's salad and the bleeding mass of beef on a bun that was taking up most of Siegfried's plate were stark contrasts to each other. The waitress left again after promising to be back with more coffee and both men thanked her.

The 'really?' look that was shining through Siegfried's eyes was enough to make Kilik pause before eating and give a small, irritated, sigh, "I am not a health nut." Repeating the phrase didn't seem to have much of an effect, which wasn't really a surprise, and Kilik knew at that point that he would have to elaborate. It wasn't something he was ashamed off, it was just a fact about himself that didn't seem important enough to mention if he wasn't asked about it. "I'm a vegetarian."

Suddenly, the burger that had looked so delicious seemed taboo somehow. Siegfried frowned slightly at the food in front of him that he was most likely no longer going to enjoy. "You're not some kind of preachy 'meat is murder' vegetarian, are you?" He had been looking forward to his food, too.

The Asian gave a small shake of his head as he mixed his salad with a fork to spread the cheese and dressing to more than just the leaves at the top, "I'm not. Feel free to enjoy..." He motioned vaguely towards Siegfried's plate, "That."

A less than believing look settled on Siegfried's features as he grabbed a couple of fries and shoved them into his mouth. He had barely swallowed them before asking, "Then, what's wrong with meat?" Once he began eating, Siegfried realized just how hungry he really felt and he found himself shoving more fries into his mouth. He moved on to the onion rings when there were no more slivers of potato to eat and wasn't sure whether or not he should bother caring about seeming like some kind of freak shoveling food into his mouth like he was. The German chose to not care and continue eating.

A small sigh passed from Kilik's lips as he explained, "Nothing that concerns you. I am a Buddhist. I don't eat meat because I am not alright with digesting something that may or may not have been one of my ancestors in a past life."

"Oh. Well." Siegfried looked down at his burger, then at the man sitting across from him, and then back to his burger. He had never really thought about it like that and could see how eating your family would make things kind of weird... at the same time, though... He gave a wolfish grin at the IT guy, picked up his burger and took a massive bite out of it. To his credit, the German swallowed before saying, "Your ancestors are delicious." Normally, he wouldn't have been such a jerk to someone for having beliefs that he didn't fallow, but this time he made an exception. It wasn't out of spite or scorn, it just seemed like something amusing and there was something spurring the blonde on.

If the former monk had been expecting any range of responses from his boss, what he got would not have made the list; it was rude, offensive, and something he could have pictured Xiba doing if the kid had ever gotten to try a burger. The memory of the child who had been his student for a time was enough to chase away any ire towards the jab at his beliefs and replace it with an odd feeling of fondness- though, that was more towards memories of the past than his boss. Kilik gave a small shake of his head and a quiet a snort, but his small smile made the gesture look more like an exasperated teacher than something truly upset. It was something he used to do a lot while spending time with the younger monk. "I'm sure they appreciate the compliment."

Siegfried had honestly expected Kilik to be much more annoyed and probably start some kind of argument or something. After all, the man had been needling his secretary earlier in the day and whatever happened between them the day before had been enough to cause an actual fight. It was a relief that the IT guy wasn't a complete tight-ass and it made Siegfried wonder just what it would take to get under the other man's skin. That weird feeling he had been getting was there again, urging him to go ahead and find out. What harm was there in annoying a man he'd be firing as soon as he had a replacement anyways?

_No harm in pushing him. Seeing what makes him react. What makes him snap. It could be fun._

The voice in his head was only given an annoyed snort for a response. Siegfried had grown out of picking fights for no reason years ago and he wasn't about to go back to that. Even if the voice did have a good point. It would be fun to see what got to the smaller man. Instead of saying anything else, Siegfried continued to eat his food.

Thoughts of his past were threatening to pull Kilik in and occupy his mind for an indeterminable amount of time. Things that he had been pushing away for years were trying to worm their way back into his mind, and his heart was beginning to feel the familiar ache of homesickness that the monk could have sworn he had outgrown years ago. Brown eyes stared down at the salad he was halfheartedly eating, unfocused on anything concerning the present until he heard the man across from him snort. Instantly, Kilik was looking back to his boss. When the larger man didn't follow up with words, Kilik decided to just ignore that he had heard anything in the first place.

The two continued in silence for a while. Siegfried had cleared away everything he ordered in the time took Kilik to eat half of what was in front of him. The blonde arched a brow and wondered how it was that people could eat so slow. It didn't take much longer for Kilik to set his fork down, clearly finished, and it made the German wonder how it was that people could eat so little. His mother, Lord rest her soul, would have been adamant that the smaller of the two finish everything in front of him and then some while insisting he needed more meat on his bones. The mental image of a large German woman shoving food towards a very terrified and mildly annoyed Kilik made Siegfried smile.

The waitress came by with the refills for their coffee that she had promised. After making sure both cups were full, she slipped their check onto the table and walked off. Both men reached for the slip of paper at the same time, but Siegfried was a little faster. His hand closed over the paper just before Kilik's hand closed over his. The two sat like that for a moment and stared at each other from across the table to see who would let go first. When Siegfried started to pull his hand away, Kilik let it go.

Kilik stood from the table and waited for Siegfried to chug his coffee. When he was done, the blonde stood as well and they both made their way to the cash register at the front of the establishment to pay. When Siegfried calmly took his wallet out of the confines of his pocket and handed money over to the waitress- who must have also been acting as hostess during the overnight shift- he was met with a raised brown brow from the shorter man. Siegfried returned the expression, and Kilik was the first to break the silence.

"I can't pay my share if you get all of it."

Siegfried grinned at the man next to him as he replied, "That's because you aren't going to pay your share. After the hard work you put in for me earlier, dinner is on me." Truth be told, Siegfried was just the kind of guy who liked being the one to take care of the tab. It was the way the small blush that creeped onto the waitresses face as she looked between Siegfried and Kilik, trying not to giggle, that made the comment worth it. Siegfried couldn't really complain about the tired scowl the Asian was giving him, either. The taller of the two received his change and tipped their waitress before turning and leaving with the mental note to frequent the place more often.

"Fine," Kilik said as he walked out with his boss, "If there is a next time, I'll pay to make up for this time." The slight hunch of his shoulders and bags forming under his eyes from a lack of sleep didn't dampen the stubborn determination in his voice, which brought a quiet snort from Siegfried as a small smile formed on his features.

The German unlocked his car as they got back to it, "Whatever." In all honestly, the blond didn't really care if that was what his IT guy had to tell himself to feel better- if there was a next time, as unlikely as that was, it would end the in the same way.

The drive to Kilik's apartment was silent save for the classic rock playing quietly from the car's

radio and the sound of directions being given when they were needed. Siegfried was full and content with the weight of his new life walking his father's footsteps lifted and the voice and odd thoughts that had come with it all quieted. That odd feeling of peace settled between the two again and it brought the thought that, even though it was unlikely, a next time might have been nice. It was odd and he knew that he shouldn't settle into moment of comfort with a person he barely knew, but Siegfried did anyways and was having a hard time regretting it.

The calming hush of the night time car ride was broken by a mildly amused snort from the brunette, who was looking at something they were passing. A quick glance over told Siegfried it was a man, but he didn't see too many details before his eyes found the road of the parking lot they were in again.

"Feel free to park anywhere or just stop the car or something whenever you want. The building with the idiot sitting in front of it is mine." Kilik's voice was a mixture of annoyed and fond that Siegfried had a hard time understanding. The IT guy was weird, that was for sure. "He's probably been waiting for me for hours."

Normally, Siegfried would have just stopped, waited for his passenger to leave the car, then left and gone home, but he had been enjoying the peace of the moment and didn't really want it to end. The blonde man ignored what he usually did and found an actual spot to pull into. He cut the engine and got out of the car at the same time Kilik did. He didn't actually have a plan- asking to come inside for a while didn't sound like a good option, but he didn't have any better ideas. Siegfried was also well aware that he shouldn't have wanted to spend extra time with a man he had met literally a day before- a man who gave him the scar on his face. He wasn't the type to grow so attached to people, especially not so quickly. Hell, his last girlfriend had been trying for weeks to get him to go to her place for coffee after dinner before it actually happened and he had honestly liked her. At least, he liked her more than he liked Kilik. That was for sure.

Kilik arched a brow when his boss got out of the car as well, but he didn't comment on it. When people did things like that, it meant that they didn't hate the person they were with and wanted to spend more time with them. That was exactly the kind of thing the monk had been hoping for, since it would allow him to... he wasn't too sure what it would allow him to do at that moment because he was too weak to purify the surrounding area and everything- mainly, Siegfried- in it.

As if to save his room mate from having to make conversation, or maybe because he had been locked out of his apartment for hours due to a level of carelessness that may as well been trademarked to him, the man who had been sitting outside waiting jogged over the pair who were standing awkwardly by Siegfried's car. "You're home! Finally! I tried calling you and didn't get an answer, so I got pretty damn worried about you, man!"

Siegfried wasn't sure what was up with the tall Asian guy, who seemed to be doing some kind of terrible Elvis impression or something, but he was fairly certain that the man was crazy. He could punch a crazy man in the face if he had to. He wouldn't even feel bad about it.

Before anyone could do anything crazy or get punched in the face, Kilik stepped away from the old car and glared up at the black-haired Elvis wannabe. "You locked yourself out again, didn't you?" Kilik could have been considered many things, but stupid wasn't usually counted among them. He knew his room mate well enough to know that he wasn't worried about whether or not Kilik was alright so much as whether or not Kilik would be home soon to let him in. Idiot.

"Ha ha~" The man had an easy and careless laugh that made Siegfried wonder whether or not this was a common occurrence between the two, "Yeah, well... pretty much, yeah." Brown hair was ruffled under a large hand as the man grinned at the clearly angry It guy, "But you're home now and I can go inside! So it all works out!"

It was then that a sudden realization dawned on Siegfried, who let out a quiet 'oh' of understanding. The other two in the parking lot turned to look at him, and it prompted the German to explain with actual words, "So you guys are..."

"Room mates," Kilik answered while calmly batting the black haired man's hand away. "Maxi, this," He motioned to Siegfried, "Is my boss, Siegfried. Siegfried," He motioned back to the dandy man in the white suit, "This is Maxi." Satisfied that introductions were over, and mostly wanting to actually get some sleep, Kilik strode past the two.

Silence overtook the two taller men as they watched Kilik walk away. Siegfried was about to get back in his car and leave when Maxi slowly turned his head and blinked at the German before him. There was a weight of appraisal in Maxi's eyes that Siegfried had not been expected and was somewhat uncomfortable with. That feeling that had been dormant all night began to slither up the German's spine and he felt himself tense slightly in response to that look, as though he were readying himself for a fight when he should have just been shrugging it off and leaving.

After a moment, those eyes softened greatly, seemingly changing from the deep gray of a storm hanging over the sea to the bright silver of moonlight reflected on water. "I can't believe that guy actually made a friend." In a single movement, Maxi shook his head, ran a hand through his hair, and then held that same hand out to shake Siegfried's in greeting, "Nice to meet you. Any friend of Kilik is a friend of mine!"

"Uh... yeah..." Siegfried extended his hand and wasn't too surprised to find that Maxi had a decent grip and a firm handshake. "Actually, he works for me. I just started a couple of days ago, though, so he's kind of been..." Telling Maxi that his room mate got into a fight might not have been the best way to avoid confrontation. Then again, Siegfried wasn't the type to avoid that kind of thing. He didn't usually go looking for trouble, but actively hiding from it wasn't his style either.

Luckily, he didn't have to think of a way to end the sentence before Maxi was speaking again, "Yeah." He turned his head, looking in the direction the Chinese man had gone, "Kilik can be an ass sometimes. Most of the time, really." Again, those eyes drifted back over and were studying Siegfried, though the German wasn't really sure what it was they were looking for. "You want a beer? Its the least I can do to thank you for giving him a ride home."

The hospitality was unexpected, but not entirely unwelcome. There was something kind of sad about the fact that kindness was the exception instead of the rule in the modern day and age, but it was the truth. That he had encountered two men in the same evening who felt they had to pay their share or thank Siegfried for things he didn't see as out of his way or any kind of burden was an oddity. So long as he didn't end up with another scar on his face, it was probably alright. Besides, he reasoned, a beer would probably help take the edge off for that odd tenseness that seemed to snake its way through him to die back down.

_How can you trust these men? When have people been kind to you for no reason?_

"Yeah, that would be great. Thanks." The resurgence of the voice was prompting enough for Siegfried to accept. Being able to explain a voice in his head away was a far cry from listening to it every time it fed him paranoid whispers and he wasn't going to end up some kind of paranoid recluse.

The two men walked across the parking lot to the apartment that Maxi and Kilik shared. When Maxi tried the door, he found it was locked. Damn. Knocking proved ineffective, which lead Maxi to believe that it wasn't Kilik trying to teach him a lesson so much as the smaller man locked the door behind him after walking in out of habit. It wasn't a bad habit to keep so much as a pain in the ass at times like this.

Never one to let something like that dampen his mood, Maxi gave an amused snort as he looked over at his room mate's boss, "Well, shit. Bar?"

The locked door had been as unexpected as the other man's proposal, but it wasn't too bad. It would be a way to get to know more about the IT guy without having to actually ask him and risk another black-out episode or fight or anything. "What the hell? C'mon."

As the two walked back towards Siegfried's car, the German could have sworn he felt- or maybe part of him heard? It was hard to describe- an amused laughter rising within him. The sound died out before it could spill from his lips, which was probably for the best.

_Know thy enemies. Get this man drunk to loosen his tongue. Clever. I like the way you think, Siegfried._


	16. The Troubled Monk

A/N: Alright, lovelies! Friday is here (unlucky 13th... thanks a lot, France and Knights Templar! :P ), so here is another chapter. To the amazing ThalieXVII: Its so true, Soul Edge will be much happier when that happens (and it so will!) and thank you for your concern. I can't help not being able to sleep when I'm on a roll writing, as bad of a habit as it is, but I'm trying to be better about that. XD To the awesome 1wngdngl: I kind of cheated when describing the diner (I started writing and realized when I was half-way done that it was just like a place around here I go to .). I'm tempted to have someone call two people out on being a couple and then make it not happen just to spite that rule, but it seems so wrong to do that somehow. xD I had thought about the bar scene for a while and decided to leave it up to y'all's imaginations and give you this instead. I might go back and do a side-fic for just the silly bar scene and other such things eventually. This note was a lot longer than I thought it would be, so I'll cut myself off there with a quick THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who is reading this fanfic. As always, please enjoy. :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

SIXTEEN

The Troubled Monk

The air at the Temple was always chilly this time of year. Especially during the long night hours. Kilik shivered, but otherwise tried to ignore it so he could concentrate on meditating. If he couldn't concentrate, Zhang He would be upset with him. He might be punished. Another sharp shiver raced down his spine as much from the cold as from fear at the thought. It was harder than it should have been to concentrate. He had never had this much trouble meditating before, even as a child.

It was the cold. So cold. There should have been others around him, giving off enough body between them in the cramped sleeping quarters to make it bearable- even a little on the warm side. None of them were there. He couldn't hear them breathing around him as he should have. Were they even there? They had to be. He wasn't alone. At the Temple, being alone was a rarity that only happened when he snuck out at night. Of course, he didn't do it nearly as often during the winter because of the cold. Ever since Zhang He changed, Kilik had had an aversion to the cold stillness of the winter nights. It reminded him too much of the look in his teacher's eyes.

Slowly, cautiously, light brown eyes opened to regard the world. At first, everything was hazy in the dark. There was no moonlight falling in from the holes in the roof. Must have been a new moon. It took his eyes longer to adjust to the extreme lack of light. Kilik wasn't sure if he really expected to be able to see anything not matter how much he strained. Still, the contours in the shadows of the world around him slowly morphed into being within the darkness around him.

The monk's quick mind was rejecting whatever he was seeing. It was impossible for him to process the information before his eyes. He had to fight through that instinct that was telling him not to look, that it was too horrible and he didn't really want to see what he was facing. Kilik was too stubborn for that to stop him. He continued to stare and analyze the world around him until he knew what it was that his mind was trying so hard to not see. When he succeeded, he wished he hadn't.

Dark blobs and masses amassed more and more detail as a soft red glow conjured itself somewhere in the sky above the Temple. The light that managed to ooz- since when could light ooz?- into the room. It somehow looked like moonlight filtered through blood. Considering the scene it was illuminating, it wasn't an inappropriate description.

Kilik was surrounded by the bodies of his fellow monks and student, the people that he had come to accept as the family who found and adopted and raised him. They were arranged as he remembered them as though he had never left him home and nothing had ever changed. He would have almost believed that the world beyond with computers and sin and no discernible discipline or moral code was just a dream his over-active mind made up to pass the night time hours if not for the fact that the things surrounding him weren't really people. They were bodies. Corpses. The spark of life that made them people was long gone and probably already in the process of cleansing in preparation for rebirth.

Bruised and blooded and broken bodies littered the world around Kilik, who was sitting in the center of it all trying to peace together what had happened. He couldn't remember. Suddenly, he was having trouble remembering much of anything. He had been training and then... a new boss... somewhere... It was like trying to put together a puzzle with only a fraction of the pieces required and no knowledge of what the picture was supposed to look like.

_How can you not remember?_

The monk looked around wildly from his spot in the center of the room. The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere and he wasn't sure if it was behind him or in front of him or inside of him. He wanted to get up and look for whoever it was that was speaking through the oppressive red light and the mist of blood that was starting to gather and rise form the bodies of his family, but something was keeping him in place. He couldn't stand and it was getting harder and harder to look around. That force was moving him back into the position he had been when he first opened his eyes- forcing him to stare straight ahead into the bloody mist that was swirling and rising above his head. Engulfing him. Everything tasted of sickening, stale copper.

_You did this, boy! You killed them! Killed them all!_

The voice was as impossible to ignore to the growing feeling of hands clawing their way up his body. It must have been the others. If he had killed them, their spirits must have been doing this for revenge. Pulling him down into depths of fire and torment to make up for what he did. Punishing him.

_You deserve this! You did this to us! Repent! Give in and repent for what you have done!_

The voice was no longer singular. Kilik could hear voices that some part of him remembered. It was a part of him that he had spent years trying to bury. It was trying to resurface. He couldn't have really killed them. The monk kept telling himself that. Kilik would never be able to do such a thing to the people who had been like a family to him until...

_Remember what you did to us, Kilik!_

If he could, the monk would have violently shook his head to get the jumbled images of a night that still confused and terrified him out of his mind. He had never really known what it was that he had done to get kicked out of the Temple. Vaguely, he recalled Xianglin telling him about it, but her words from that time were currently muffled under the other voices calling for penance from him.

It would be so easy, his body and mind were telling him, to give in and let them have what they wanted. He had wronged the people who truly cared about him and they wanted him to make it right. It was all he could do for them. He owed them that much, at least.

_Yes. Let go, Kilik. Give in to your punishment..._

Saying anything in his defense did not even occur to the monk. Seated in the middle of that bloody mist, surrounded by the bodies of the only people in the world who might have cared about him, who had died by his hands, Kilik had nothing but guilt and shame. He lowered his head wordlessly. The more resigned to his fate he felt, the less solid the ground became. It was swallowing him up agonizingly slow as though it had to fight for every bit of his body it covered.

_Stop resisting! You deserve this!_

The words were true. Kilik knew them to be true. He deserved everything that was happening to him and he should have been able to take his punishment with all the pride a man like him could have. Still, though, there was some stubborn part of him that fought. Whether it was against his feelings or the mist and carnage around him or the voice of his loved ones was unclear. There was nothing he could do to fully relax himself. Some part of him that functioned outside of his conscious will refused to give up and Kilik could not fathom why. He deserved punishment. He was not the kind to shrink away from that.

_Are you a coward? Afraid to die? Afraid to face the outcome of your actions? Pathetic!_

They were right, or course. It was pathetic. Kilik knew this to be true and it disgusted him to know end. The creeping ground was engulfing him just a little faster. He could feel it like a steady encasing of heat rising up his body, over his legs and to his lap. It was an odd feeling and the monk was curious about what it would be like when he was fully taken. Pain. Much pain. That was expected. He deserved it for his sins. At the same time, part of him welcomed the heat. It blocked out the winter chill. That any bit of him could be grateful for comfortable in what was to be his punishment was a level of sick and terrible that Kilik did not know how to handle. He had never reveled in punishment before.

His thoughts crashed to a jumbled and confused halt at a sudden banging sound, loud and persistent and probably closer than it should have been. Brown eyes opened- had they been closed before?- to find the small living room of the apartment he shared with Maxi. That's right, he thought as his tired mind pulled itself out of the haze it had been in. Kilik was home. Safely at home.

Upon entering the apartment, he had locked the door behind him out of habit. He noticed this by the time he had made it to their kitchenette, but had decided against unlocking it. It would serve to teach Maxi a small lesson to be stuck out there a while longer. The IT guy had made himself a cup of tea while he waited, but he had been able to finish it before hearing his dandy room mate knock. There was no telling where Maxi was or what he might have been up to- with that man, it could have been almost anything and Kilik would not have been surprised- or when he would be back.

More banging at the door alerted Kilik to what had woken him up in the first place. He hadn't even remembered falling asleep, but, with how tired he had been when he got home, it made sense. He got up and stretched his arms above his head as he walked to the door, trying to remember what it was he had been dreaming about. His heart was beating too quickly for it to have been a peaceful dream, but he couldn't for the life of him remember any details. He would most likely remember it eventually if it was important, Kilik reasoned to himself as he reached the door.

Opening the door found two very drunk men leaning on each other for support. One of them was the man Kilik lived with and the other was the man he worked for. All the short brunette could do was curse to himself and hope that Maxi hadn't done or said anything terrible as they stumbled in. He supposed this was his karmic payback for locking the Japanese man out in the first place.

"Hey, sleepy head!" Maxi's breath reeked of whatever he had been drinking, "I was wondering what took you so long to get the door! Thought you were gonna make me sleep outside or something!" With a laugh, the Japanese man ruffled his room mate's hair fondly, "That would have been terrible!"

Siegfried laughed and shook his head, looking no more sober than his new drinking buddy, "Looks like I owe you five bucks, he does look a lot more likeable when he first wakes up."

Kilik was batting Maxi's hand away from his head as he frowned at the pair, "What have you two been up to?" He hated sounding like the only adult when at least one of the men in the room was his senior and both of them should have had some shred of responsibility.

Maxi disentangled himself from the blonde and spoke as he stumbled to his room, "I was provin' to your boss that I can drink anyone under the table! Any time! Anywhere!"

"Yeah, right!" Siegfreid snorted, having to lean on the wall to keep from falling over, "All the bottles I emptied at the bar disagree with you!" It was odd how a German accent started to bleed through into his words. Kilik had honestly not pegged him as the type to have an accent, but it fit perfectly on the tall blonde haired, blue eyed man.

Maxi was still talking from the room at the end of the hall that he had taken himself to, but it was nearly impossible to make out the words. Even if he could have heard them, Kilik didn't much care to listen to a drunkard. Siegfried didn't seem to care much either. He looked as though moving from his current spot was both his primary concern and a feat that seemed too daunting to attempt in the immediate moment. Perhaps after the room stopped spinning?

With a sigh and a shake of the head, Kilik approached his clearly inebriated boss, "You're in no condition to drive. I don't want to know how you and Maxi made it back here in the first place." Siegfried started to say something, but the IT guy would hear none of it and silenced him with a raise of the hand and a few words of his own, "I can't let you drive yourself home and get into a wreck. Your secretary would probably have me arrested for manslaughter if you killed yourself going home. We have a couch you can sleep on. I'll help you get to it so you don't fall and break anything." He wasn't honestly worried about his boss getting himself hurt by falling over so much as his furniture getting demolished by having a large German man stumble over or fall onto them.

Siegfried pouted and the monk had to wonder if it was an expression that would have passed on the other man's face if he had been sober, "But I hate sleeping on couches..." Somehow, the admission made him sound younger.

It sounded like something Xiba would have done if he was being told to sleep somewhere he didn't want to and that ,coupled with his desire to go back to sleep as soon as possible, made Kilik relent. The sooner he got his boss to a safe place to pass out, the sooner he, himself, could get back to sleep. "Fine. Take my bed and I'll sleep on the couch."

There were words offered up in response, but Kilik honestly wasn't listening to them. Having one drunk idiot to deal with at the end of the night was bad enough, but two was ridiculous and he wasn't going to grace either with more attention than he had to. Luckily, Maxi had already taken himself to bed, which had greatly reduced the number of drunk morons Kilik had to deal with.

Walking wasn't as awkward as it could have been from the height difference and they made it down the hallway without anyone falling over. The pair made their way towards the same room Maxi had disappeared to. Opening the door was much more difficult than it would have been while not helping to support a large German man, but Kilik got it done. If Siegfried held any confusion about Kilik sharing a room with Maxi, it was squashed fairly easily by the sight of the contents of the room.

Two mattresses lay on the floor against opposite walls of the room with only a single dresser and two piles of clothing strewn all over the floor between them. The lack of lighting in the room made it almost impossible to make out the blue of the blankets that covered the beds. Both seemed to have been worn and faded from years of use. Maxi's must have been something bright at some point in time and Kilik's was a shade darker. From what Siegfried's very not sober mind could gather, neither man believed in pillow cases. It was all very simple and Siegfried couldn't help but smile at the meager little room his little IT guy stayed in with his much more fun room mate. Given the size different, it wasn't difficult for Siegfried to drag them both the few steps it took to be able to collapse onto the mattress that didn't already house a body, which he did.

Kilik gave an exasperated sound as he tried to get away so he could leave the bedroom to lay down on the couch in the living room to try and get a good night's sleep. It didn't work. Siegfried's arms had managed to wrap around the smaller man and tightened, clearly with no intent of letting go. It was warm, and not entirely uncomfortable when Siegfried rolled onto his back and positioned Kilik to be on top of him, but the monk wanted to move on principle. He did **not** want to spend the night so close to a possessed men; especially one he worked for!

"Let go." To his credit, Kilik sounded calm when he spoke.

Siegfried's response was the tighten his grip more, nuzzle the top of Kilik's head and murmur, "No. Being around you is calm and peaceful and I don't want another nightmare tonight." His words were made more sense than Kilik would have guessed a drunk man capable of.

With a defeated sigh, the monk closed his eyes and tried to sleep. At the very least, he would be woken up if the demon took control of his sleeping boss and tried anything. Probably. He wasn't sure how he would stop the demon if that happened. He would probably have to wing it. At least there wasn't a desk in the room that could be thrown at him.

Sleep soon wrapped the two men up and kept watch over them for the night. The pair looked content on one bed while Maxi looked as comfortable as he could while sprawled across his own mattress on the floor.


	17. The Early Morning

A/N: Soooo... I'm not exactly proud of this chapter so much as... it is a thing. It happened. Sorry for it being so short and not much happening. Thanks to the lovely ThalieXVII for being an amazing reviewer (I imagine that's what Siegfried's car looks like right now, too. The Temple and everything there isn't quite out of the story yet... should be making more of an apperance in four or five chapters. X3 ). Thanks as well to the equally lovely 1wngdngl (The morning after is never fun, huh? At least Siegfried was comfortable? /shrug). To all you other lovely readers, thanks and, as always, I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

Seventeen

The Early Morning

Shadows covered the room like rot on a corpse, eating away details until the place seemed to be only a figment of what it had been when touched by light. Nothing more than silhouettes barely outlined in the darkness surrounded the three men in the room. Of the three, only one was awake enough to pay it any attention and he did not find it as foreboding as nature most likely intended. One who had spent countless lifetimes imprisoned in a blade, waiting for a host to make the mistake of attempting to control the evil within, had made the spirit immune to the fear of the unseen- the unknown- that plagued lesser creatures. Humans. What had settled over the room was only a cheap imitation of the true darkness that the spirit was so fond of manipulating- the darkness that lurked deep in every human's soul. No, the bleak room was nothing that the spirit wasn't comfortable in. The warmth, however... that was a different story entirely.

Burning was something the spirit could relate to. The fiery passion of man to destroy and conquer was familiar, even welcome, but that was a far cry from what the spirit experienced upon seizing control of the host's physical body. The spirit was surrounded by something It was unfamiliar with and It wasn't sure whether to welcome or scorn the gentle warmth that grew out of simple contact. Physical contact was not something It had much experience in. There was the contact sustained during battle, but that was not the same. That was all rushed and burned and weapon to weapon if not fist to fist with armor and tools usually separating the spirit's host from their enemies. None of that was comparable to the simple warmth of laying with another physical body.

In the past, the spirit had scorned such pathetic sentiments as weak and foolish. It was difficult to maintain such an opinion when waking up in the middle of an act that should have seemed weak but actually felt... good. Perhaps being out of battle for so long had rendered the spirit desperate for any kind of feeling that broke the throbbing boredom of captivity. It knew there wouldn't be any proper battles any time soon with the world as pathetic as it had become. None of that seemed like a suitable excuse.

Not being able to justify why he liked it didn't stop the spirit from growling softly and tightening his grip on the source of the warmness- that monk from before- when it tried to move. The evil spirit did not have to know _why_ it enjoyed something to know that it _did_, and if the spirit enjoyed something then it was not going to allow it to end before the spirit was ready for it to end!

Ah. The monk. The spirit smirked as he narrowed red eyes down at the sleeping brunette that he was currently using as a human blanket. He was the only one the spirit had encountered who posed any kind of threat, but he also held a lingering taint from the spirit. It was that lingering taint that had allowed the cursed blade's will to seep into the monk's dreams. There had been something there to prevent the taint from spreading and taking over, as it should have, but it had been able to grow and that was better than nothing. It spoke of the monk's strength to resist Soul Edge without consciously trying- Hell, while the rest of him was fully prepared to sink into a pit of despair and surrender himself.

Strength always had been and always would be a prized commodity. The blade knew it _wanted_ this one subjugated, but there would be no mourning the loss if he was forced to simply kill the brunette to get him out of the way instead. Still, keeping him alive until the spirit was strong enough to take him had possibilities. Surely, one who could purify a room as easily as the monk had could also be able to taint it, given the proper motivation. One who could do that could taint a greater space- perhaps an entire building- if they worked at it. Such a feat could infect so many souls and drive so many men mad at once without forcing Soul Edge to do the work himself. He could sit back and grin as he watched men tear each other to shreds and fed off of the madness and darkness and corrupted souls.

The mental image of that scene coaxed a low purr of approval from the demon and his arms tightened around the sleeping monk unconsciously. He could feel an answering tug from the monk's body as the lingering darkness in the small man responded. The monk himself shivered and gave a whimper of fear so small, Soul Edge almost missed it despite how close he was to the other. So the monk feared the darkness? As well he should.

A blonde brow arched as his human blanket started to move slightly in an attempt to drag himself from his tainted dream-scape. He just barely made out the man murmur something about a nightmare before slipping back into his host to keep from drawing too much attention to himself and risk having to deal with purification. He didn't feel like bothering with that until he was stronger. As he slipped back into the darkness of Siegfried Schauffen, the demon smirked to himself and found that he liked that. Nightmare. It was something of darkness and hopelessness and fear. How fitting.

The smell of the room was the first thing to break through to Siegfried's tired mind as he began to shift out of dreams and into consciousness. Normally, he wasn't the kind of guy to notice how his room smelt in the morning, but it was different somehow. Actually, it was kind of better than usual in a very... like ginger...calming... His eyes snapped open at the realization that his room **never** smelt like that. Only one person came to mind who did, and he wouldn't have even thought of that person if he hadn't been close enough to the other man the day before to notice it.

Blue eyes drifted down towards the source of the smell as slowly as the camera in a horror movie when the main characters is about to come face to face with the monster for the first time. What he found wasn't a monster, but he wasn't entirely sure that it was better. Sticking out of the worn blanket the two were laying under was the sleeping form of the IT guy. With the same cautiously slow movements, the German lifted the blanket enough to peak underneath with wide, worried eyes. He could remember the night before as well as any other time he had to drink someone under the table, but that didn't mean his mind didn't find the worst possible explanation for how the night could have ended to put him on an unfamiliar mattress- one that was nowhere near as comfortable as his own- with another person.

All of the still tenseness of the moment cleared away with a relieved sigh at the sight of clothing. Both of the men were fully clothed, which meant that nothing too awkward could have happened. Siegfried wasn't usually the praying type, but he did offer up a quick 'thanks' to the Big Guy above and let the blanket drop back into place.

The knowledge that he didn't have drunk sex with his employee was enough to allow Siegfried to settle into a slightly more comfortable position- having to adjust Kilik slightly as he did so- and just relax into the calming stillness of the dim room. It was almost insane how another human being's scent- especially a man's- could be so relaxing, but it might have been some kind of Asian thing. Ancient Chinese secret. The thought drew an amused snort from the German as he felt himself slipping back into the abyss of sleep. It was the first time since his father's death that sleep was coming easily without the aid of alcohol and Siegfried welcomed it gladly.


	18. The Same Morning

A/N: So, this is all rushed while I kind of post this and kind of play Fallout... so I didn't really go back and beta it. I spaced it and that was all. Sorry about last chapter. Thank you lovelies who are still with me after that. As always, I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or the characters therein.

Eighteen

The Same Morning

The sound of early birds was muffled greatly by the walls of the apartment, but Kilik was still able to hear them. He couldn't explain it to his room mate in any way that didn't end with teasing from the Japanese man, but that sound always woke Kilik up a full five minutes before his alarm clock went off to get him up for the day. The only thing that differentiated the brunette's current situation from any other day was the pair of arms securing him to his warm, and steadily rising and falling, pillow. It was then that the night before came back and the monk held back a frustrated snort at the situation as he worked to disentangle himself from his boss. At least the demon hadn't resurfaced and tried to kill him in his sleep. With that small thing to be thankful for in mind, the monk got himself up off the bed with waiting for the alarm.

Kilik couldn't hold back the small smile from his face when Siegfried made a very annoyed grunt as his human blanket went away. Somehow, the sound reminded him of some of the noises he used to hear back at the Temple when it was time to get up. Not all the sounds were that pleasant- some of them were much, much angrier and held curses mumbled under the breaths of more daring monks who thought they could get away with it- but there were a few. If he were to be honest with himself, Kilik would admit that sleeping close enough to hear someone else breathing was a nice reminder of the home he had left behind years ago.

Back then, there were so many people and so little room that it was impossible to not hear the sounds of many different people breathing in and out, each at their own relaxed rhythm. His insomnia had gotten much worse after he first left the Temple because of how silent and still things could get when sleeping alone. Those days weren't as pleasant to remember, but the memories came nonetheless and turned the IT guy's small smile into a deep frown.

Without sparing any more time on the subject his mind was going to- or looking at the blonde man who had been the cause of his musings- Kilik turned and walked out the door. He was not going to allow himself to dwell on the past when the present was more in need of his attention. Events that had already passed could not be changed, but the here-and-now was completely different. He could control or, at least, impact the things around him here and now.

The first thing he saw fit to impact was the state of the small coffee maker that sat in the kitchen. It made small bubbling noises after he got everything ready and started the thing- the smell of coffee was already starting to seep out from the machine and it would no doubt cover the apartment in moment. Maxi was a very pleasant men any time he wasn't hung over which made it such a surprise to people who did not know him to see how unpleasant he could be when he first got up after a night of heavy drinking. Coffee helped to wake him up and calm him down and, most importantly, keep him in a mood that was bearable. The monk figured it would also help his boss as well, which couldn't hurt in making the other man like him.

If Kilik stayed the course, he might have the blonde trusting him enough to let himself be purified in a few months. That was too long. Staying the course wasn't exactly an option if it meant giving the demon that much time to hide and build up power, but there was nothing the monk could think of to speed up the process. He couldn't just sabotage the company every day and hope for the same results as the first time and he wasn't good at making and maintaining friendships. It wasn't going to be simple, but the monk resolved to find a solution to the problem. He had to put an end to the demon, find the cursed shard, and take it back to the Temple to be placed back with the rest of the blade and guarded.

The quiet sounds of the coffee maker and the much louder thrumming of Kilik's thoughts- which were stubbornly trying to focus on Xanglin despite the monk's attempts to steer them differently- were the only things breaking the almost deathly still of the apartment. Things would most likely have continued that way until Maxi stumbled out of bed if it weren't for the sudden, shrill beeping of Kilik's alarm clock. The sound breaking the relative silence made the monk jump. As abruptly as it started, the beeping ended with a loud combination of 'thud' and 'crack'. The IT guy didn't have to be in the room to figure out what had happened, but he went to check it out regardless.

As expected, in his room was Siegfried, half awake and glaring at the spot on the floor where Kilik's clock had landed after being thrown at the wall. The thing was no longer beeping, but it wasn't telling time either. Kilik made a mental note to either try to fix the thing himself or get a new one, as well as one to be thankful for the fact that he was already out of bed when the clock went off. He really didn't want to think about what might have happened if he had been there when the clock sounded the alarm for worry that it wasn't the only thing that would have been thrown.

Tired blue eyes pried themselves away from the remains of the clock to meet the patient brown ones that found their way to Siegfried. There was a level of anger in those eyes that normally came with waking up before the owner of said eyes really wanted to; they were daring Kilik to say or do anything. Any excuse to find a place to vent his anger at being woken up- for the second time that morning, no less.

Accepting the challenge with the knowledge that he probably knew the only thing to say that wouldn't get his head bitten off, Kilik said quietly, "I have coffee brewing, if you want some." He wasn't sure how Maxi had slept through the crash, but he wasn't about to be the one to wake up his room mate by talking too loudly. Then again, Maxi was a heavy sleeper, so it probably didn't matter whether or not either man remained quiet.

Upon hearing the IT guy's words, the look in those hard blue eyes softened considerably as the German muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Thank God" under his breath. There might have been more words, but they were cut off by a loud yawn that Siegfried didn't bother to try to cover. Instead, he stood and stretched his arms a little before walking towards the door Kilik was standing at. "What time is it?" His voice was still low and rough from sleep, but, other than that, he didn't look very hung over.

"The alarm went off at five," Kilik said; the last word dissolved into a yawn- more as a testament to how contagious the action can be than anything else.

The German's blue eyes widened slightly at how early it was before he eyed the Asian suspiciously, "In the morning?"

Kilik gave a small snort, "That, or you slept all day." He shrugged off the annoyed expression the other man was giving him and said simply, "Coffee's in the kitchen if you want any," before turning and walking back out to the main part of the apartment. The sound of foot-steps much heavier than his own fallowed behind Kilik, who looked over his shoulder and offered up a quiet, "Or, you can go back to bed if you think you can get back to sleep." He didn't see anything odd about offering a bed he wasn't going to be using until nightfall again and he didn't turn fully to see what the other's expression at the offer would be. It was Maxi's place to be a lecher, not Kilik's.

If there was any bit of Siegfried that was uncomfortable or awkward about waking up in his

employee's apartment- in the man's bed, no less- it didn't show in anything he did as walked passed Kilik towards the smell of coffee. It took a couple tries, but he found the mugs and was pouring himself a cup as the monk strode into the kitchenette and watched him. Even the weight of those brown eyes that seemed to be looking for something Siegfried couldn't quite grasp couldn't ruin the warm taste of bitter liquid on his tongue. If nothing else, Kilik knew how to brew his stuff strong and it was greatly appreciated by the German who was not at all used to waking up so early- or waking up after a night like the one before without any of the pains of being hungover. He wasn't ungrateful for the latter and decided that whatever he did to prevent the hangover would be something he would do while drinking always. Too bad he couldn't remember doing anything out of the ordinary drink-wise.

The possibility that the demon was in control existed, but that might just have been how Siegfried was in the morning. Kilik was willing to bet it was the second one, mostly because nothing had been thrown at him yet. He wasn't really sure what normal people said in situations like the one he was in, but he also had to admit to himself that normal people didn't have to worry about purifying demons. There was moment where the monk was grasping at words he could say to the other man and, in the end, he decided to try expanding on something his boss had said to him the night before- though, whether or not the other man remembered saying anything at all was questionable. Uncomfortably, Kilik coughed before trying to articulate what probably should have been simple words, "So... if you ever want to talk... about your nightmares or uhm... anything... you can." He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly feeling woefully inadiquate for the situation. The blank stare he was receiving from his boss over the coffee mug that was still raised to the other man's lips, almost to them but not quite there- paused in mid-motion- wasn't helping. "To me, I mean. You can talk to me."

Siegfried had never, at any point in his life considered himself to be an emotional man. He didn't cry in movies. He didn't write poetry. More than anything, he never wasted time _talking_ about his problems. Like any healthy man raised in a very German household, he was the type to keep his feeling where they belonged- internalized. This was doubly true when the person who offered to listen to his feelings looked and sounded like they were also uncomfortable and inexperienced with those things. Instead of opening up or even admitting there was anything in the world that could be upsetting him- he could, and would, deal with everything on that list on his own- the blonde simply lowered his mug and asked, "Do you need a ride to work today or would you rather take a bus or something?" His voice was as dead-pan as his face. Siegfried's response to the question was the same as his response to feelings: ignore and press on to more important things. That attitude was most likely why he had been drinking himself to sleep since his father died and why he had been having blackouts, but that didn't mean it was going to change any time soon.

The offer had been as unexpected as it was counterproductive to what Kilik had been trying to accomplish, but it did save him from actually having to counsel his boss on things that the monk wasn't used to dealing with- wasn't sure he could deal with. Instead of pressing the matter, he decided it best to simply fallow the other's lead and not try to push himself into an area where he clearly was not wanted. It would have probably encouraged Siegfried to push away form him and ruin any chance of purifying the demon to do any different. "A ride would be preferable to the bus."

"Hurry up and get ready. I'm going to have to stop by my place for a change of clothes," Siegfried said before chugging the rest of the coffee and pouring himself another cup. He wasn't nearly awake enough to deal with that kind of shit.

Without bothering to attempt continuing the conversation, Kilik pushed himself away from the wall and strode back to his room to get different clothes. Maxi was still passed out, but it made sense. The park where he worked was in off-season and he wouldn't be needed in for hours. Even if he didn't have a night of drinking and a hangover to sleep off, he would have been more than happy for the time to sleep in. Kilik had never understood wasting so much time out of the day by not being awake, but he didn't bother his room mate over it. Instead, he gathered some fresh clothing from the dresser between the two beds and turned to leave the room.

Despite Siegfried telling him to hurry, Kilik calmly went into the bathroom and started the shower. If Siegfried chose to leave instead of waiting for him, Kilik would find another way to get to work because he was not going to skip bathing two days in a row. The day before had been one of the rare exceptions to his daily routine due to his mind racing about the demon- and the implications of its existence and possession of his boss- and his body being unable to rest or do anything that wasn't directly related to the mission he had been sent on years before. Besides, he was not in the mood for being mistaken for a whore again any time soon. His dirty clothes were deposited in a small hamper he and Maxi shared before he stepped into the warm spray of the shower. It never failed to feel anything but good on his skin.

The act of bathing rarely took Kilik more than a few minutes and he was soon turning off the water and stepping out of the tub to dry himself. He didn't bother trying to look at himself in the mirror through the fog that had somehow managed to build upon the glass while he brushed his teeth. He didn't doubt there would still be a bruise on his face from his fight with the demon, but they would heal eventually. It had been lucky that the lighting in the parking lot had been bad enough the night before to keep Maxi from seeing the bruise and that the dandy man had been too drunk to notice- or care about- anything beyond his bed when he got home from his escapade with Siegfried. Kilik didn't feel like making an excuse to his room mate. There was a way to help it heal faster, but it was something the monk hadn't done in a very long time and he wasn't looking forward to doing it again. Especially not with the demon so close. Part of him regretted taking the German up on his offer for a ride to work specifically because it kept him from tending to his face. It was a small part of him, a vain part, that hadn't really existed much before he left the Temple. The thought that Western life had crept in on him like that would have been disturbing to him years ago.


	19. The Big Fall

A/N: Sorry for getting this up so late! D: Anywho, thanks to the lovely ThalieXVIII for being great and reviewing and not disliking ch17 too much. Living away from the Temple... it changes a man. Dun duuuuuun! So, yeah. Thanks to all you lovelies still with me thus far and I hope you all enjoy the chapter! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

The Big Fall

Siegfried was tempted to walk out the door when he heard the shower begin in the bathroom, but he didn't. Instead, he stayed in the kitchen and drank another cup of coffee while waiting for the IT guy to get ready. He would give the other man a few minutes as a thank you for letting him sleep in his bed the night before, as opposed to letting him drive home as he'd been planning to do. The German was more well versed in driving while inebriated than he should have been, but being given the option not to out of concern for his safety was a decent thing to do and Siegfried respected times when people could be decent human beings. He had seen enough times when they weren't to know the value of such things.

It didn't take as long as expected for Kilik to emerge from the bathroom in a different suit that looked identical to the one he had been wearing the day before- if not a little fresher. The sight of the other man, still damp with droplets of water falling carelessly from his hair, was a better one than the German would admit out loud as sky blue eyes took in the sight before him. If nothing else, it was a reminder to the taller man he needed to get laid. It would help with the stress thing and hopefully his mind could then think about things other than what the Asian man would look like if he had walked out in nothing but a towel. Not that Siegfried was the kind of man who thought about things like that. Nah. Not at all.

After finishing the contents of his cup, Siegfried set the mug down in the sink and turned back to his host, "Ready?" He was awake enough for his voice to sound normal in comparison to the low rumble he had woken up with.

"Yeah." Kilik ignored the impulse to rinse the cup out properly and deposit it in the dishwasher in favor of heading for the door. If he had noticed his boss eyeing him, it didn't show in the least.

The walk to Siegfried's car was made in silence, save for the sounds of footsteps from the two and the ambient noises of nature waking up. The silence fallowed them into the car and persisted as Siegfried navigated the streets- still relatively clear of the early crowd of people rushing to work that would come about in about an hour or so- to his house. Even the radio, which had blared to life when the car had started, had been shut off. The volume was almost never so loud, but one of the two drunks must have turned it up from the night before, not that that mattered much once Siegfried turned the thing off. He loved his music, but there were no words to describe how pointless he found early morning radio to be. Bland voices talking about things he either held no interesting in or things he didn't feel like hearing from 'radio personalities'- though, that early, using the term 'personality' was being generous. Kilik didn't seem to mind the quiet any more than his boss had and his lack of complaint was much appreciated by the still tired German.

The drive didn't take as long as Siegfried had thought it would, even considering that he had to drive nearly across the expanse of the city to get to the side of town he lived on. Had he known where the IT guy lived before hand, and if he wasn't as fond of driving as he was, he might not have offered to give the other man a lift home. Sure, Kilik didn't live too far from the office in which they worked, but he was very much out of Siegfried's way. The blonde lived in a house in the north-eastern part of the city, well away from anyone who did not make a superfluous amount of money. In a city as dense as theirs, living in a house in and of itself said something about the German and his family. If there had been more people on the road, it would have easily taken an extra ten to fifteen minutes to reach that side of town and the gated neighborhoods it held. It also would have made Siegfried more irritable at having to deal with traffic so early in the morning. He hated traffic and being sleepy only served to make him more irritable in a way he doubted even Kilik's freakishly calming... ness- aura?- could help.

The long silence was interrupted by a soft beeping as Siegfried entered his access code into a small keypad outside the gate of the neighborhood in which his father had lived. The gates gave a loud screeching as they were pulled open, dragging Kilik out of whatever he had been thinking about for the entirety of the drive. It didn't take long for his shocked expression to be schooled back into his usual calmness, but Siegfried had caught it out of the corner of his eye. If he had been the kind to boast, he would have smirked.

Quick brown eyes were jumping from one thing to the next as they continued to drive, taking in everything he saw from the large houses to the pristine yards and gawdy decorations people seemed to think looked fashionable- or whatever they thought they were accomplishing with lawn statues and bird baths, and Kilik could have sworn he saw a replica wagon that had been modeled after the kind used for heading out west and something about manifest destiny. He didn't question the odd habits of the rich much. While he already knew the answer, part of Kilik couldn't help but wonder what they were doing there. It was like his brain was having a hard time accepting that his boss, who liked the same music as his room mate and drove the same kind of shit-mobile, lived in such a place. On some level, it made sense that someone who owned a company as successful as Frederick's- Siegfried's, now- would live with other rich people. Still, the car clashed in that place as much as Siegfried's manner of dress clashed with everyone else who walked into the company building during the day.

By the time the old car was pulling up an obscenely long driveway, Kilik couldn't stop himself from asking, "You live here? Really?"

"Yes." Siegfried cut the engine and undid his seat-belt before glancing over at his employee, "Do you have a problem with that?" When he got farther into the world and away from the rich snobs he had grown up with, Siegfried had met a lot of people who resented him for coming from a family that had money. While he never flaunted his wealth or acted like a rich man, he had long since gotten over feeling guilty for having what others did not. The circumstances of his birth and those of other people were out of his hands and feeling like shit over it got old fast.

Kilik made a sound that was somewhere between a snort and a grunt as he undid his own seat-belt and looked back at his boss. Chocolate eyes met blue, but they didn't hold the judging weight that the blonde was familiar with in such a situation. Instead of any kind of jealousy, Siegfried as met with teasing from the smaller man, "I wanted to make sure I wouldn't have to keep an eye out for the police or the real owner of the house while you messed with the lock."

There was a slight pause and a dead-panned expression before Siegfried grunted and gave a small smirk, "My plan was to outrun you back to the car when the police showed up." He got out of the car and strode to the door with all the confidence of a man coming home after a long day of work fallowed by a night of drinking and passing out on his employee's bed.

Behind him, Siegfried could hear Kilik ask, "What makes you think you can outrun me?"

There was a slight pause after Siegfried unlocked the door when he turned and looked at the brunette. He grinned and pointed to himself, "Jock." Then to Kilik, "Computer nerd." As though that explained everything, he pushed the door open and walked inside.

A pair of brown eyebrows furrowed at the response, the implication obviously being lost on the shorter man. He decided not to bother asking about it when he glimpsed what lay beyond the door. Slowly, Kilik walked in and closed the door behind him while his eyes scanned everything. The house was easily larger than his entire apartment and that wasn't including the second floor that was made obvious by the staircase immediately to his right. Clean white tile lined the floor from the doorway into a hallway that went deeper into the house than Kilik dared to go without his host anywhere in sight. Cream colored carpet covered the stairs and a large room to Kilik's left that held a few chairs and an impressive looking pool table- carved white wood with bright green felt and complete with balls already cued and ready to go- as well as a large bar against the far wall.

Siegfried's voice called down from the second level of the house, "Make yourself at home. I won't take long."

The German didn't waste time in navigating the upstairs to get to the room he had used as a child. His father had taken the liberty of redecorating it to something that didn't look nearly as childish as it had been when Siegfried left, but it was still a bedroom. Upon inheriting the house and coming home, finding that his room was still a room- albeit one that looked like a fancy hotel room instead of _his_- was a welcome surprise. Despite owning the house, he still couldn't quite bring himself to move into the master bedroom. It was too soon to deal with that.

He dug around in the closet, still mildly impressed with himself for actually putting his clothing in there as opposed to living out of a suitcase as he had done the first few days of staying in the house, until he found a clean shirt and some jeans. There were suits in the closet that would probably have fit, but they had been there since he had arrived. He didn't even want to think about why his father would keep those things in that room. He was refusing to wear them, as though that last rebellion against a pushy father actually meant anything, and stuck to things he had brought with him from the last place he had lived. Of that limited selection, he didn't have much left that was still clean and wearable. Laundry would be added to his list of things to do when he felt like giving any fucks- something he had been having trouble doing since hearing of his father's passing. It got easier with each passing day to drag his ass into gear and not be lethargic, but it wasn't getting easier fast enough for the German's liking.

His thoughts were slipping into a place he really, _really_, did not want it to go. With an almost violent shake of his head, Siegfried pulled his clothing from the hangers with more force than was really necessary and stalked to the shower that was just to the left of his room; it was the last door in the hallway. He didn't need to fall into some kind of pit of self pity. He needed to get dressed and go to work so he could... figure out what the hell he was going to do at work!

The water in the shower helped calm his frustration at himself, at his thoughts, at his life. It was easy to just exist under the constant beating of water against skin and not think about anything for a moment. Part of him wondered if he was going to black out again, but it didn't happen. He supposed it had to do with feeling more drained than stressed. Despite getting decent sleep the night before, something that had become a rarity for him, going home still made him feel some kind of tired and depressed that he didn't have words for. Even if he did, he wasn't the type to talk about things like that. It wasn't healthy, he knew that, but it was the way he was and he didn't know if he should hate himself for it or not. As with most things in the recent past, he pushed those thoughts down and resolved to never waste time on them again. He probably would at some point, but it was satisfying to tell himself he wouldn't. He might even believe that for a little while if he kept repeating it. Yeah, right.

The act of washing off took less time than Siegfried would have liked, but he did have a strange Asian man waiting downstairs. He could live with cutting short his shower if it meant not worrying about a strange man in his house. It was something he should have considered before taking the IT guy over, but that anything terrible could happen didn't register until he was away from the brunette. Several different scenes played out in Siegfried's head about what Kilik could be doing- from going through things, to stealing, to destroying things, to generally making a mess of his father's... _his_ house.

Siegfried had never considered himself to be a paranoid man and he wanted to believe the part of him that honestly thought Kilik was harmless and perfectly trust worthy. There was still a nagging something that warned him to be wary of the Asian. It was difficult for Siegfried to ignore his gut feelings on things. They had never really steered him wrong before, not counting the time when it directed him to trust a woman who turned out being too ready for the kind of serious relationship he hadn't been looking for at the time. Then again, that time might have been the beer talking instead of his gut. College was a time in his life when it was hard to tell the two apart. Wanting to trust Kilik didn't stop Siegfried from drying himself and getting dressed in almost record speed.

Walking back down the stairs found Kilik exactly where Siegfried had left him; in the doorway, waiting. The sight would have been more comforting to the German if Kilik had been standing instead of sitting cross-legged with his hands in his lap and his eyes closed. He probably should have looked as peaceful as when he slept- isn't that how Asian's looked when they did that meditation crap?- but he didn't. It seemed that, seated on the ground with his eyes closed, the IT guy was concentrating on something.

Siegfried opened his mouth to ask what the hell the other man was doing. It closed when he realized he had no words for the situation. Any bit of concern he had had about what might have happened while he was in the shower, as well as any bit of confusion about what was being done in the doorway, seemed to leak out of his system. That feeling of calm again. Siegfried still wasn't sure how he felt about it, but he chose not to prod at the problem. If he wanted to find something negative to think about and pick at, he was sure he could without trying very hard; so, something that he enjoyed couldn't have been worth the risk of ruining with questions. Besides, Siegfried reasoned, if he felt awkward about being comfortable around the other man, he really shouldn't have spent the night in Kilik's bed.

"Am I interrupting something?" Siegfried crossed his arms and stared down at his employee. He may have decided to not take issue with his odd calmness around the brunette, but that didn't mean they weren't both going to have to get to work at a decent time and that they didn't have time for Kilik to be doing weird... Asian things.

Brown eyes snapped open as Kilik gave a small jump. Clearly, he hadn't been expecting anyone to address him, which seemed odd for someone who was in another person's house, waiting for that person to get ready so they could go to work together. He stood and looked more embarrassed than Siegfried had ever seen- but, being that it was the first time Kilik looked embarrassed at all, that wasn't saying much.

Running a hand through his hair, Kilik replied, "Not at all."

"Then let's go." Siegfried motioned for Kilik to be the first to exit so the German could lock the door behind himself as they left. He didn't have as much of an attachment to the things in that house as his father had probably had, but he would still have been pissed if anything got stolen because he was too careless to lock a door. That kind of thing would make Frederick roll over in his grave or haunt him or something.

Again, the drive was silent save for the sound of the car itself. It would still be radio talk-show shit that Siegfried didn't feel like listening to. If the quiet upset Siegfried's passenger at all, it didn't show in any way as the man watched the scenery they passed out the window. Side-glances of curious blue eyes told Siegfried that the other man did that a lot while he drove. Every time he drove. Considering the fact that he had only taken two previous trips with the man- once from office to food, then food to Kilik's apartment- made it difficult to tell whether or not it was really something that the brunette always did. Siegfried was willing to bet that it was. Not that he minded. It was better than having some kind of side-seat driver telling him to speed up or slow down or something.

For the third day in a row, getting from his home to the office took less time than Siegfried had expected. He had always assumed that his father spent a lot of time commuting to and from work. After all, wasn't spending hours out of every day driving or sitting in traffic part of the stuffy businessman lifestyle that the younger Schauffen never wanted? The knowledge that sitting in traffic for terrible amounts of time wasn't really something that happened wasn't comforting enough to the German to make up for the rest of the stuffy businessman lifestyle- namely, the stuffy business part of it. Whether or not it was the kind of life he was looking forward to didn't change that he and his passenger had arrived.

The two got out of the car and parted ways, Siegfried giving a quiet 'see ya' to the shorter man, who responded with an awkward monosyllabic response and wave of the hand. It would have been insulting if being like that wasn't par for the course from what Siegfried had seen of him. While Kilik made for his dark little office, Siegfried strode to the elevator. On the ride up, the resolved to actually change the music instead of just thinking about it every time he rode the thing. If he was going to have to be in it every day, he was damn well going to listen to something that didn't annoy him. It was like making sure the boss was in a grumpy mood was part of the elevator's function or something, and no one needed that.

A high-pitched 'ding' alerted the blonde that he had reached the floor he wanted. The metal doors slid open and Siegfried stepped out, not as surprised and he would have been a couple days ago to see a familiar green-haired secretary already at her desk, typing something. It was probably some kind of important e-mail or something. He didn't want to disturb her, but he also didn't want to be rude. His compromise with himself was to giver her a quick greeting- complete with the best smile he could pull off so early in the morning- as he walked into his office. The almost-instant way her already bright smile seemed to grow was enough to tell Siegfried that he had made the correct choice of action.

Almost immediately after Siegfried got to his desk and sat down, the phone began to ring. He didn't expect Raphael to call so soon and had a moment to hope to God the other man didn't do something creepy, like have cameras in Siegfried's office to let him know when the German got there and sat down in order to perfectly time his little calls. Siegfried wouldn't put it passed the other man and found himself looking around as he answered the phone.

Not feeling like listening to the other man complain about Siegfried not taking his advice, the German threw out one of the greetings Raphael had told him the day before. If he appeased the other man enough, it might make the phone call go faster.

"Schauffen here."

A silky alto chuckled into the phone before purring out, "My, my... that is a strong greeting you have there..." It was most definitely not Raphael with his once-a-day call. All Siegfried could really tell was that the speaker was a confident woman, and he couldn't help it when the small hairs on the back of his neck began to stand.

The voice continued talking, but Siegfried couldn't make out the words. It was as though the phone was somehow getting farther away, the voice becoming hushed and muffled with distance despite the fact that he knew the hand holding the phone didn't move. Vaguely, he could have sworn he heard his voice and felt his lips moving, but it was a fleeting experience. The last coherent thought that ran through his mind as the world went black was, 'Not again. Dammit.'


	20. The Infectious Girl

A/N: Ha ha... I'm sadistic with Kilik so much. 's a sign that I love him, promise. ^.~ Anywho, thanks to the lovely 1wngdngl, who really does a make a good point: Its damn impressive that that company is still going. xD Thanks as well to the lovely ThalieXVII- no worries for the late review 'cause at least you reviewed, yeah? This chapter is long. Like, really long. Sorry for any mistakes I did not catch while proof-reading. As always, thanks to all the lovelies reading this work and I hope you enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

The Infectious Girl

Coldness and unforgiving fluorescent lights that poured from the ceiling did nothing to alleviate the too sterile and soulless feeling that clung to the off-white walls- someone had attempted to liven them up by adding wide, parallel strips of pale yellow horizontally along them; it didn't work- and the white tile floor that was so clean it reflected the above lighting in a way that was nearly painful to look at. The entire building reeked of a level of 'clean' that was almost terrifying in its absoluteness. Even the patients that were allowed to wander about and the doctors and nurses going about their days seemed somehow infected with the quiet sterility of the dull white building that stood a little ways outside of the city, surrounded by neatly manicured grass that was green enough to be surreal amidst all the scrubbed-clean white. The New Institute hadn't changed in years.

It wasn't really called the New Institute. The proper name for the establishment for the mentally unstable, unpredictable, and over-all unwell was actually 'The Ravensharp Institute for Psychiatric Wellness'. Being the second such institute to grace the city, replacing the first incarnation of the Ravensharp Institute as soon as the larger, and much better equipped, building had finished construction and been officially opened. The nick-name of 'New Institute' just stuck.

Kilik didn't honestly care what the building was called. He only cared about who was housed there. As far as he was concerned, the only proper name for the building he had been avoiding was something that more properly described what it really was: a cage. The Cage. Years before having to worry about his boss potentially becoming a demon and murdering people, Kilik had seen the Cage. He had walked within the halls and seen the drug-induced stupor of patients, as well as the cold indifference of the staff. Neither the nurses nor the doctors seemed to care about much of anything for very long. The more hopeful and eager they seemed to the monk when they first started, the more defeated and dead inside they would seem after a few months.

Cages did that to people. There were some at the Temple, a cage in its own right, who developed the same shallow eyes after years of being locked away from the rest of the world. It was the kind of look he feared seeing in Xiba's eyes, though part of him always expected to see it sooner or later. It was almost a relief when he realized he wouldn't be there to witness such a thing. Selfish, but true.

His thoughts tended to drift like that every time he walked with an orderly down the too-bright halls of the too-clean building. Chocolate brown eyes couldn't help but zone out the brightly dreary present in favor of whatever else his mind could come up with. Usually thoughts of the past. Most days, it was better than facing the present and the reality that almost made him cringe whenever he stepped foot in the building. It wasn't anywhere he wanted to be for any length of time and there was likely nothing that could ever change that fact. Only one thing remained in the New Institute that kept drawing the monk back. One person who was kept locked up within padded walls. Dosed up on pills that made the world fuzzy and the person lethargic.

Xianglian.

She had been hauled off years ago by men in white coats who were convinced, so sure, the she was of unsound mind and needed to be kept from hurting herself or others. It wasn't really their fault for thinking that, Kilik had to admit that fact, but that was too small a consolation for the brunette. He knew that the events of _that_ day- he tried not to think too hard about them- and the way Xianglian tried so hard to explain the situation made her sound raving mad. He hadn't known such at the time and he had been so angry for so long about it, but the years had given him a better understanding of a world he and his adoptive sister had only glimpsed at before. No part of that made seeing her any easier, though.

At first, the visits were daily. Making sure she was unharmed and that they were taking care of her. Trying to understand what the doctors explained about their theories over her condition. Trying even harder not to look like he believed in a single thing Xianglian had said. He knew all to well that admitting to knowing about demons and evil and things would end with him in that place with her. It was unfortunate- unfair- that Xianglian was trapped in that place, but the monk had no way of getting her out and it would do no good for him to suffer through that fate as well. No one would be able to so much as search for the shard of Soul Edge if they were both caged. Kilik had to tell himself that over and over to keep from feeling guilty over worrying more about his own safety than his sister's. It didn't stop the guilt from rising from his core every time he saw her there. It made him feel sick. That was why the visits grew less and less frequent.

Daily turned into every other day turned into once a week to a couple times a month. Then, once a month until it got to a point where he could no longer handle it. So much time spent searching for the cursed blade and turning up nothing coupled with honestly getting to experience life outside of the Temple for the first time with absolutely no one around to drag him back had coaxed him into an easy life that had nothing to do with demons or blood. Seeing Xianglian was a reminder of the life he left behind. She was a reminder of what his mission was and of what the cost of failure could mean. She was a reminder that the Temple had been his life and not some kind of distant dream or memory that had no hold on him. He would have to go back to that life some day and he found himself less and less eager for such things as time had gone on. Avoiding her made it easier for him to fall into the comfortable warmth of normal life. It felt good to just forget. For a very long time, that was what Kilik did. He forgot- ignored- his past and concentrated on living. The darkness still lingering in his blood was more than happy to help with that; to numb the pain and keep the guilt and the dreams and memories at bay.

Siegfried's possession by the cursed blade rendered Kilik's comfortable life impossible. He could not ignore his mission when it was in front of him. The feelings of regret over losing his new life and anger at the Temple, and at fate, over allowing him to have a taste of normalcy and then taking it away were nearly overwhelming. Still, he knew he could no longer rally against who he was or what he had been sent out to do. It was not fair to his sister, nor to any other person in the family he left behind who was still hurting because of him. He did not know if there was anyone like that, but he knew that it was his fault if there was.

Visiting Xianglian was something Kilik had not done in half a year. It was long overdo. He would have to look upon her and remember everything he wanted out of his life. He would endure the horrible feelings that came from being in the same room as his sister. It would help him. Instill in him the same drive that he had had when he first left the Temple. He would be forcibly reminded of why he was where he was and what it was he should be doing; should have been doing for years. Punishment so painful even Zhange He would have approved. That was what Kilik needed. What he deserved. Pain for not already finishing his task. Pain for giving up. Pain for attempting to be something- someone- he was not. Pain for being selfish. He had become weak, arrogant, and selfish in his time away from the Temple and he planned to suffer for it. It was what he desereved.

"You know," the soft words of the orderly leading Kilik down the hall- a young woman who was a few inches shorter than the man she was currently leading- pried the monk from his thoughts. Her blond hair was pulled back tight in a pony tail that barely contained the dirty blond locks as she lead Kilik to the cell. It had probably looked better when she had gotten ready for work earlier, before the downtrodden aura of the place effected her hair much like it did the almost non-existent shimmer in her eye. She must have been proud of herself at some point for it to have been there at all, but the building made short work of such things. Again, her words stole him from his rambling thoughts, "She hasn't been very quiet lately. Not like she was at first." Tired brown eyes glanced back, but fell short of meeting Kilik's gaze before returning ahead, "The longer between her visits with you, the worse she gets. I guess that means its true what they say about family connections and easing pain, huh?"

The words formed into a dagger that pierced Kilik to the core. He almost stumbled at what he was being told. Instead, the monk held his composure and managed to act like noting had bothered him. He responded, "I suppose it is." He didn't much like conversing with people- especially not too-tired women who were guiding him to something he did not want, but fallowed still.

The nurse's smile didn't reach her eyes, nowhere near, but that she bothered to twitch her lips at all was more than the monk would have expected. She stopped in front of a heavy looking door that matched the rest of the doors that lined the hallway. A solid rectangle of yellow that matched the stripes on the walls that offered only a small latch that hid a window for viewing in the room.

Kilik had, upon his first viewing of the room his sister would be staying in, found the space behind the yellow door to be horribly depressing in a way he didn't have words for at the time. Four padded walls. A single light built into the ceiling that produced only a feint glow of dull light onto the padded floor. Everything from the walls to the floor to the jackets that restrained patients from doing anything that might hurt themselves or others were done in the same lifeless off-white that could be found all over the building. It had taken time, but eventually the inhabitant of the room seemed to take on the same listlessness as the bland room. It was a padded white version of the stone cells kept at the Temple for punishment. Whether or not they had a use prior to that was not something the monks spoke much about. Zhange He was the only one who seemed pleased about the cells. Kilik had the feeling his former teacher would disapprove of the New Institute, though; not because of the way it drained a person's will to fight, but because they had padded the walls. It kept the prisoner from being able to hurt themselves, accidentally or on purpose.

He gave a weak smile as the woman unlocked and opened the door to his sister's room. She had been saying something, but he had missed it. He could only hope it was unimportant as he gave a small not and a quiet "thank you" and walked into the room.

Either whatever had been said was not important or the orderly didn't care all too much whether or not the man listened to her- it could have gone either way and Kilik would not have been surprised- because the nurse didn't bother trying to say anything else as she closed the door behind him. He knew it was for the illusion of privacy, probably for his benefit somehow. People were less on edge when there wasn't some nurse or doctor overseeing their time spent with loved ones. Most people did not consider that they were being watched the entire time. Kilik did not know exactly where the camera in the room was, nor did he know where the room where the footage was being viewed was. All he knew was that everything said and done in the room was being monitored and probably recorded. For his safety as well as his sister's, or so he would probably be told if he asked about it. If he said or did anything to make the doctors believe he was feeding his sister's so-called 'delusion' or if he seemed like he needed a thorough examination himself, they would know about it.

Having no intention of being examined or locked up, the monk had always been very careful about how he acted with his sister. He could only hope that she knew without being told that he believed her. Everything she said and feared was real. He wished he could tell her that. He wished he could tell her that what she was being told by the doctors was a lie made by people who did not- could not- imagine the secrets of the world. They would never be able to believe in cursed blades or hidden temples in China filled with monks who lived, for the most part, keeping to the ways of old. They would not admit to themselves that possession was something that happened; was happening to Xianglian. Had happened to Kilik. He liked to think he was no longer under the evil blade's sway, but it had become increasingly difficult to tell himself that after seeing the demon for the first time and feeling an answering pull in his blood- not if he wanted to believe it, anyway.

Huddled in the corner of the room was a mass of trembling black hair that cascaded strait down around a figure in white. In the six months since Kilik had seen her, Xianglian had grown thinner. The unwashed and greasy spill of black hair that curtained around her, hiding her face, had gotten longer since the last time Kilik had laid eyes on it. Her entire form was shaking and Kilik was reminded of a cornered animal. He stilled, not wanting to startle her. Briefly, the thought of whether or not she had attacked the staff and what it must have took to administer the medication they believed she needed drifted through Kilik's mind. He pushed it away; unimportant. What was important was seeing his sister.

Parts of the monk that had been trained and sharpened to see things that the average person could not were nearly overwhelmed by the frail, animal-like woman in the corner of the room. There was the slightest hint of anticipation from the darkness in his soul that he kept buried, deep down. The darkness that had resurfaced when Siegfried woke up and became consumed by the evil within the shard of Soul Edge, the part that Kilik had very nearly purified completely since that day, the part that Kilik hated admitting to needing for the purpose of keeping his shame at bay as he tried to be normal. Merely a sliver of what it once was, but that small dark spot could feel the evil surrounding his sister like a throbbing, oily fog. It swirled and danced around the room, spreading out, out, out from Xianglian. Reaching for the same part of Kilik that would have been answering the pull just as needfully if the monk had not been holding it back.

Every other bit of the monk was hyper-attentive to the dark and dense atmosphere of the room. The same part of him that surrounded and contained the darkness was nearly ripping out of his skin to meet and destroy Xianglian's darkness. It was what he had been trained to do. Zhange He had taught him that such things must be purified. Destroyed. It would be easy. Light and darkness. Fire and ice. They battled. It was the natural way of things. It was what Kilik had been raised to believe. He knew that he was stronger than his sister in both body and spirit. While she had been left to whither and weaken, he had been living. All he had to do was stop holding back. Let it out. Let it all out. Nature would run its course. The strong would survive and good would triumph over evil. Whether or not Kilik wanted such things to happen, they would. The cold purity within would rip it's way out if it had to. Resisting would only make things more painful for the monk. There was no need for that.

Despite wanting to keep his eyes on his sister, Kilik shut his eyes as tightly as he could. He would have shaken his head if he hadn't been worried sudden- and probably violent- movement would alarm the other. The brunette was well aware of what could happen if he were to try to purify his sister. Her body was not strong enough to handle it. It would kill her. Despite every word his teacher had told him about how it was better to die than exist as a carrier or evil, Kilik could not allow himself to kill the woman who had grown up with him- helped raised him. She was his sworn-sister from the Temple and, though they were not related by blood, Kilik was willing to do almost anything to protect her. He had not been able to save her from being brought to the asylum, but he would not be the one to kill her as well. He would keep her as safe as he could under the circumstance.

The pain of energy trying to force out of his body to battle with the suffocating; the air of the room lessened steadily until fading completely. He was in control. Not the darkness. Not the light. Kilik. He would keep both sides of himself from answering Xianglian's energies- with violence or with familiarity. When he was confident he could speak with the black-haired woman without accidentally harming her or worsening her condition, he continued with what he had showed up to do.

He spoke very quietly, in Chinese, in the hopes that it would be comforting. "Xianglian. I'm sorry it has been so long." His words were met with a low sound from his sworn-sister's throat that seemed out of place on a human, especially one as frail looking as her. Undeterred, he continued, "It must be difficult for you in here. I am so sorry. I would get you out if I could. Take you home."

Slowly, agonizingly slowly, the small figure in the corner turned to look at the monk. The sight of her eyes made Kilik tense. They were still dark, but there was nothing left of the young woman he had grown up with in them. They had gained the smallest red hue and held something wild that swirled, reflecting the wild darkness that must have been slowly consuming her soul while he had been away. The dagger of the nurse's words from earlier twisted within his heart, the sight bringing a new amount of pain. Months of regret came crashing into the monk in the instant he saw those eyes.

Her lips pulled back in a twisted mockery of a smile at the sight of the man before her, "Sorry?" Her voice was rough, the single word triggering a harsh coughing fit from the woman that almost seemed as though it would break her frail body in half. It was obvious that she hadn't been speaking much. Her throat must have been so dry from disuse. "Sorry!" Again, the word was accompanied by coughing. The coughs dissolved into manic laughter before lapsing back into a pathetic, coughing sound that ended in wheezing.

Xianglian tried to stand and face her sworn brother, but she succeeded only in lurching forward slightly before falling into the padded floor. Instantly, Kilik was kneeling by her side. Moving on the padding had been awkward for him, but he managed. Strong arms wrapped around the frail woman and dragged her, as gently as he could, into the monk's lap.

There was no sign of struggle or resistance at first. Only the stillness of a predator before the attack. In his arms, Kilik could feel Xianglian go very still. Very quiet, save for the almost too-soft-to-hear sound of her sniffing him. Again, the brunette was reminded of an animal as he stared down at the mass of greasy hair that was carefully taking in his scent. He tried giving her a reassuring squeeze. It did not help.

"I found it," He spoke very quietly into his sworn sister's ear. The words for meant for her and her alone, as she was the only one who would know the significance o the phrase. When there was no response, he said again, "I found it, Xianglian."

"Did you?" The words almost sounded painful coming from Xianglian.

He nodded, running what he hoped would be a comforting hand through the hair of the woman in his arms, "Yes. What we have been searching for. I will finish our mission and take you home, Xianglian. Don't worry."

"Don't worry?" Xianglian echoed her brother's quiet tone before growing louder with every word, "You lie!"

When the woman tried to pull away, Kilik's grip tightened. He shook his head, "No. I honestly found it. Finally, after all this time, we're so close to this being finished." He could feel her trembling now and the slightest bit of regret for showing up was sliding through the monk, mingling with all the sick feelings born of not visiting his sister and from leaving her to this fate for so long. He had never wanted to do anything to hurt Xianglian. A small part within hissed at the monk that that was a lie, that he didn't give a damn about his sworn-sister. It growled that he only part he regretted was having to face what he had done instead of simply ignoring it. Kilik could not even begin to disagree.

"I smell it," the woman's words were softy with an almost musical lilt to them. Her head tilted just enough to Kilik to see dark eyes gazing up at him- sizing him up for something- through the oily curtain of her hair. "I smell it. I smell it inside of you. Deep down. Tucked away. Far away."

Surprise ran through the monk like a jolt of ice and his body stilled instantly. He stared down at her with slightly widened, worried brown eyes. "How can...?" He never denied the darkness that lurked within his soul, but he didn't think others would have been able to tell. Being surrounded by people who could not sense energy had made it impossible for him to truly test how good he had hidden it when the darkness had been tucked away inside, but that Kilik never believed it would be so obvious.

"Let it play." Xianglian's lips pulled back lazily into a lopsided grin that might have looked adorable at one point in time. With the darkness clouding the room, it looked maniacal. "I want to play." She leaned up to be able to whisper in Kilik's ear, "I have been so lonely in here. Let me play with you. Let me feel your evil rise to the surface. I bet it wants to play with me."

This was clearly not the woman Kilik had grown up with. Instead of her infection lessening and eventually becoming something manageable the darkness within the woman seemed to have grown. It was as though she had never been able to purify it from her blood. Kilik did not want to believe it was because of a lack of ability. She had never been far behind him in training. In fact, Kilik had been willing to wage since the first time his mind cleared after leaving the Temple that she had been the better of the two in such things. His mind wouldn't allow him to consider Xianglian had not only failed at purifying the evil, but that she had somehow embraced it or became more infected. There was no way that could have happened without contact with- or, at least, proximity to- the blade. There had to be something else that had allowed the darkness to spread and grow. Something that Kilik had not thought about when he decided against breaking his sister out of the asylum years ago.

As carefully as possible, Kilik moved his sworn sister away, "No, Xianglian. Stop this." Even with her pushing against him, trying to get closer, it was easy for the monk to hold her an arm's length away. He would not purify Xianglian for fear of hurting her, but he was not going to allow her to undo his efforts to keep control of the impurity in his soul. In his blood. "Control yourself."

Stained dark eyes blinked languidly as the monk's words washed over her. "...control?" She sounded amused and indignant all at once- it was something Kilik had never heard from her before, "I am in control!"

The sound of the cell door opening behind him caused Kilik to turn his head. He was thankful for the padded floor when he had to push the woman away- more roughly than he wanted to- in order to stand and face the orderly who had joined them in the room. It was not the small woman from before. This one was male and much larger. He was easily a few heads taller than Kilik and must have outweighed the monk by close to a hundred pounds. Everything about the man from the mop of light brown hair on his head to his unremarkable features, dull eyes and overwhelming averageness was overshadowed and easily forgettable. The only noteworthy thing about him was the darkness that had clearly possessed his soul. This man was clearly tainted. Under the control of the same evil that had been infecting Xianglian. Despite how much he did not want to admit it to himself, the woman who had been like a sister to him had not only succumbed to the darkness, but managed to make a... a slave for herself!

_Evil must be punished. It must be destroyed!_

The words of his teacher roared in Kilik's mind as he stared at the man opposite himself. He could hear Xianglian yelling behind him. She wanted to play. She** needed **to play. It had been so long. She was yelling at her servant to make Kilik play with her. The monk did his best to ignore her words and concentrate on the man. This one was physically healthy and his soul had not been completely devoured by the evil. From what the monk could tell, the darkness in his former sister was not feeding off of the man, just controlling him. It explained why Xianglian looked so bad. She was killing herself to keep this up. A shiver went down Kilik's spine at the realization that, to be as drained as she looked, this man could not have been the only one she had possession of. Perhaps she had tainted everyone in the building. Stripped them of their will to resist with the carefully built aura that permeated the building- she must have been building it up slowly, steadily, for years without Kilik noticing- and then taken them.

The man took two careful steps into the room, looking Kilik up and down as though trying to determine how hard it would be to do his master's bidding. His mind made up that it would not be too difficult, the man rushed forward with his arms outstretched to grab the smaller man. Kilik side-stepped carefully on the padded floor and kicked horizontally into the man's abdomen. Between the force of the kick and the force of the man rushing into it, the orderly was dropped in one hit. He rolled onto his side, curling and clutching his aching torso while trying to regain breath.

Normally, Kilik hated violence. Hurting people was something he had never enjoyed. However, as he grew older, his teacher had made sure to instill in him how important it was to utilize the techniques they practiced in the Temple for good. If there was anything Kilik knew, it was how true that lesson was. He did not want to hurt any of the people in the New Institute, but he knew that he would have to to keep whatever evil was there from spreading. Xianglian was clearly not strong enough to maintain her hold on anyone outside of the building in which she was being held, but all those within who had been infected would be hers to command. It explained the aura of the asylum that he had brushed off earlier as being the result of the building itself. He had been a fool to think that; a fool who had underestimated the evil of the cursed blade and overestimated the strength of his sister.

Two more orderlies rushed into the room. Xianglian was still screaming and the door to the cell was wide open, but Kilik doubted they were there to tend to their patient. He knew they were there to serve their master. Still, the monk was calm. The men were clearly untrained. They were angry and spurred on by darkness and malice. Unfocused. It would not be difficult to take them down. Even if they were physically stronger than the monk- which he doubted- raw strength was nothing compared to trained skill.

He had expected them to run at him at once, like the orderly before them, and they did not disappoint. Instead of meeting them head-on, like with the man before, Kilik dropped down and swept a foot out and the two soon found themselves falling on their backs onto the padded floor. One of the two was clearly recovering more quickly than the other. As that one was standed, Kilik was bringing his heel down on the other one's stomach. The force was enough to wind the man. The monk was able to lift his leg and do it again, knocking out the orderly, before the other one had been able to get up and get his footing on the padded floor.

Dropping into a defensive stance was easy, the movements of battle coming back to Kilik as simply as riding a bike would for a normal person. He had not been in actual combat in a very long time, but he still trained from time to time and had never fully forgotten everything he had learned. He was not as rusty as he would have thought himself to be- even if he had done horribly against the demon possessing his boss not too long ago. A very small part of the monk that was pushed back behind instinct, training, and battle attributed that to how emotionally and spiritually unstable he had been then compared to his current situation.

When the orderly threw a punch at him, Kilik ducked under it and came up quickly, his fist connecting upwards with the man's jaw as he did so. The man fell back. The purifying energy that raged under Kilik's skin were getting harder to control. Another man ran into the room and Kilik's blood was wailing at him to purify the man. It would be faster than fighting them, to let go and simply purify everything. He had been trained to do so. He had been far better than anyone at it, save for Zhange He. It had been why his teacher had chosen him. He could end this so quickly if he let it out. Let it all out. It was tempting. Even the fact that he wasn't sure his body could take it wasn't enough to dissuade him. The fact that he risked killing his sworn sister and anyone else who was not strong enough to survive such a shock to the system was.

Holding himself back had taken up too much of his attention and Kilik felt a fist connect with his jaw. The force was enough to stagger him, and his face hurt, but he knew that nothing was broken and it wouldn't be worse than a bruise. Maybe a busted lip. The next fist that the man sent at him, he caught and pulled in to force the man's gut to meet Kilik's knee as he raised it. The monk released the man's fist and dropped and elbow to the man's neck as the man doubled over in pain. It was enough to ground the man.

They went down so easily. Kilik had known that not everyone was accustomed to fighting and not everyone could take a hit as well as he, and his brothers and sisters and the Temple, but it was almost distressing how easily they went down.

_Evil is weak! _Zhange He's voice was in his mind again, urging him on. _Destroy the evil! They are weak! Finish this!_

More men streamed into the room as Xianglian continued her wailing and screaming and making animalistic sounds of rage and want and even a little fear when it became obvious that Kilik was not relenting. More men went down as Kilik dodged and hit and blocked and struck. He could keep it up for a while, but not forever. He could only hope that she hadn't infected too many more people.

A fine tremble was beginning to run through the monk's body as he fought. His heart was racing. Everything felt so warm as his blood rushed through his body. Every bit of his soul- the dark stain as well as the pureness within- was exhilarated by battle. It was getting harder and harder to focus on the people around him and keep himself in control. Simultaneously, the world was moving too quickly and things were slowing down. It should have been an impossible feeling, but there was no other way for Kilik to describe it. Whoever he was focusing on seemed to move in slow motion as the world rushed around him at a dizzying pace.

He didn't know how many people were in the room or how many he had taken down before he felt something sharp enter his shoulder from behind. In the second when he paused, trying to figure out what it was, there was an identical feeling in his chest. He looked down to find someone had jammed a syringe in him. There was another and another before he dropped to his knees. He couldn't focus on anything. His mind was fogging over and his control was slipping away. As the darkness closed in around him and the sounds of the world drifted away, all Kilik could feel was a deep chill spread through his body. So cold. Just like his teacher's eyes.


	21. The Rude Awakening

A/N: What time is it? Early chapter posting time!

To the lovely ThalieXVII: it is pretty sad about Kilik, and I put both of them in this chapter, so hopefully it will kind of explain what happened while Sieggy was gone. :D

To the lovely 1wngdngl: Oh, don't worry, monk powers for the win. Kind of. To be honest, Xianglian reminds me of Superman from Holy Musical B tman (if you haven't seen it, you really should. Its on youtube and is simply amazing x3) when he's all upset like "This is what happens when you don't return people's phone calls!" Also, thank you so much for that offer to proofread for me and I'll definitely think about it; truth is, I don't want to bug you with really random and impulsive "I need this proofread noooooow O.O" things. xD

To the lovely WildMomo24: ERMAGHERD REVIEEEER! Also, no. Kilik is never allowed to have nice things. I hope I'm not murdering Siegfried and sorry about forgetting Sampson. 3

To all you lovelies who don't give two shits about any of that and just want me to get on with the chapter, thank you for your continued interest in my work, sorry for rambling so much, and I do hope you'll enjoy this chapter. :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

The Rude Awakening

The words on the computer screen were fuzzy, at first. They came into sharp focus faster than brown eyes had been ready for, and Kilik felt as though he was going to be sick because of it. He held back the urge to vomit. The things on the screen were moving faster than he could process. He knew that he was the one manning the terminal, but he wasn't in full control of his own movements. At the realization that he was not the one making himself work, his body slowed what it was doing, eventually coming to a halt. Feeling creeped back into his limbs a moment later. He was cold. So cold. Freezing.

Whatever he had been doing, it was finished. He didn't even really know what it was he had done. He couldn't even remember entering the room he was in. He hadn't even known where to find the computer that controlled the system. His brow furrowed as he struggled to recall where he was, what he had been doing, and how he had gotten there. It was more difficult than it should have been.

He was going to visit Xianglian. He wanted to tell her about his boss. He wanted to help her. She had been consumed by the evil. He still could not understand why it had happened in that six months, what had changed to make something that she had had contained take over like it did. It couldn't have been the medication. She would have shown signs of slipping into the darkness over the years he had been visiting her if it had been because of the medication. He couldn't understand it, almost as though the answer were obvious and his mind was refusing to supply it to him. As though it were safer not to know.

The monk gave a frustrated sigh as he straightened himself up from the computer he had been leaning over. From how much it hurt, he must have been there for some time. He looked around the room, his eyes adjusting from the brightness of the screen to the tired electric lighting that hung overhead. There was a series of screens lining the wall to his left- each one numbered, it must have corresponded with the rooms of the patients. To his right were more screens, these being the more public areas- the lobby, bathrooms, closets, several from outside, anywhere that wasn't a padded cell or the small rooms provided for the less troublesome cases. Of all the screens in the room, only the left side held blanks. He figured they must have been unoccupied rooms.

Brown eyes narrowed on the one that corresponded with Xianglian's room. It was blank. Quickly, his head snapped back down and he began working the computer again, looking up the registered patients. Again, he could not find her. He looked through backlogs of who was being given what medicine, who was scheduled to see what doctor, what was being done for and to the people who were staying in the New Institute. Xianglian was in none of it. He must have taken her out. That's what he must have been doing. But why...?

He could remember the men under his former sister's control attacking him, and how hard he struggled to keep from losing himself in the excitement of battle and the feeling of evil surrounding him. He remembered the stinging and... oh. They must have tried to sedate him. All that struggling, and he lost himself because of a few syringes of sedatives in his blood stream. But, it hadn't felt like that time at the Temple- what little he could remember of that, at least. It was cold. From his experience, Soul Edge did not make things go cold.

There was only one thing he could think of that could take hold of a person like Soul Edge. Of course. He growled to himself as he pushed away from the desk, stumbling back a few steps and almost falling back over the rolling office chair he must have pushed away before coming to and taking his body back from Soul Calibur. He knew that the holy blade could take over a person just as completely as its cursed counterpart- Zhange He had been proof enough of that- but he didn't understand how it could have taken _him_. He had never allowed it in. He had never touched the blade, much less been cut by it. He shouldn't have been able to be the flesh-puppet of a sword he had never truly come into contact with!

His head began to throb, his mind once again pushing what must have been an obvious answer out of his reach. It was some kind of defense mechanism of the mind. The same one that had kept him from being able to remember what he had done that night years ago, probably. Defense mechanisms and being possessed by an evil blade. Kilik gave his head a violent shake before rubbing a hand through his hair in an attempt to calm himself. He closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and counted backwards slowly.

When he felt calmer, his eyes slid opened and he looked around the room again. There were a couple bodies around him clad in security officer uniforms. His legs were shaky as he made his way over to them. The monk dropped to his knees by the closest body and checked for a pulse. It was feint, but there. He had a fairly good guess of what Soul Calibur had done with his body. He had purified the building and everyone in it. The realization came with a wave of exhaustion. Part of him was shocked his body hadn't already dropped from the effort of purification during however long it had taken him to erase his sister from the system.

It was much harder to stand up than it had been to drop down, not that that had been any kind of surprise. Still, he managed to rise to his feet and stumble out of the room he was in. His steps were unsure as he navigated the asylum, searching for anything familiar that might lead him out. He passed bodies in the halls and heard nothing from the cells or any of the rooms as he walked. It was impossible for him to gauge what time it was as he walked and he hated himself a little for not thinking to check the time on the computer when he had the chance. The lack of sound or movement told him that anyone who had survived purification was still knocked out and no one from the outside had gotten there. It must not have been time for a shift change yet and no one had called the police at any point, or visited. He didn't want to wait around for anyone to wake up or the police to show.

It was a small grace that he made it out without further incident and Kilik wasn't sure if it was pure luck or something else. No matter what had been behind his good fortune in leaving, he was grateful for it.

As he limped out of the asylum and down the lone driveway that separated it from the road, he allowed himself to focus inward. There were no threats to him and it was a good time to try and take inventory on himself. His face ached, something had happened to his cheek and his jaw still hurt from getting punched, his shoulder and chest were sore, there would probably be bruising where the needles had been jammed into his skin, his arms and legs were as sore as they ever got from overexertion, though no amount of training had ever worked him over so bad since he left the Temple. Overall, a fine trembling ran under his skin. He was no longer cold, but he couldn't stop shaking. It might have been shock. He wasn't sure if he would know if he was in shock or not, but after waking up to the knowledge that he had hurt so many people and without the knowledge of whether or not he had killed anyone he figured shock was the most likely reaction he would have.

It was cowardly, but he didn't check any more pulses after the first one. He told himself that they had probably survived. If that one could, why not the others? He hadn't checked on Xianglian, either. He couldn't bring himself to do it. It was shameful of him, but he couldn't face the knowledge that he had killed her just yet. Without seeing the body, without checking for sure, he could still lie to himself and say there was a chance she lived. That, maybe, he had somehow saved her from the darkness that he had allowed to infect her soul. With every step he took, he hated himself a little more for not even checking, but he knew that feeling was nothing compared to how much he would loath himself if he was sure of her murder by his hands. He would not be able to continue on after that. He would not be able to pick himself up and walk out the doors. He would not be able to save his boss from Soul Edge and, in the end, that was the mission he and his sister had been sent out to do.

Retrieving Soul Edge was, technically, their mission, but he would have to get the spirit out of Siegfried and back into the shard before he could really do that, so saving Siegfried had become part of the mission. Zhange He would have told him to simply kill the host body. Kilik knew he wouldn't be able to do that. He tried to tell himself that he wasn't a murderer, but he couldn't fully believe it. The whole situation dragged a frustrated sound from the normally quiet monk that broke the silence that had settled around him as he walked. It wasn't until then that he realized that even the normal ambient sounds of the outdoors- bugs, birds, or even cars driving by, airplanes, anything- were gone. No traffic, he could attribute to no one visiting the asylum but nature's lack of sound...

The monk froze, his heart suddenly beating faster than it had been. The lack of noise. It meant he wasn't alone. As much as he wanted to believe it was just the aftershock of purifying the New Institute, he knew that couldn't be it. Soul Calibur's- Zhange He's- presence had never disturbed nature at the Temple. The only thing that ever really caused that level of deathly quiet was...

The silence was broken once again, this time by a deep laughter that made the monk's hair stand on edge. Brown eyes shifted back into focus and found the source of the sound, his boss, standing a few feet in front of him, leaning casually on his beat up old car, hands in his pockets. He looked different in a suit instead of his usual outfit, with his hair pulled back in a low ponytail instead of falling freely around his face. His eyes, more red than blue, were trained on the monk with an appraising look. The demon in Siegfried's body pushed away from the car to stroll forward with an amount of self-assurance that Kilik would have expected from a demon.

Siegfried's lips pulled back into a predatory grin as red eyes traveled over the monk, taking in his current state, **"I had thought you were the only stray piece of me outside of that damn Temple, but I was wrong, wasn't I? Someone had a little friend, didn't they?"**

Even in his current state, Kilik glared defiantly at the demon. He knew he wouldn't be able to survive a fight, but that wasn't enough to make him back down. There was a very small bit of him, one that he thought had died when he was younger, that questioned whether or not he deserved to survive after hurting so many people. He chose to ignore the demon's questions in favor of one of his own, "What are you doing here?" Brown eyes narrowed, "You left in a hurry a week ago. To England, if your flight information is to be believed." The first thing he had done after his boss' departure was to use any means he could to find out where the other man was going, and he could only make guesses as to why.

The demon smirked and answered with a noncommittal shrug, **"Awe... did someone miss me? How sweet." **He took another step forward, **"There was another around here who was..." **He seemed to be searching for the right word for a moment before settling on, **"**_**Graced **_**with my presence inside of them. I didn't even notice until you killed them."**

Kilik's eyes widened and he couldn't stop himself from taking a small step back. As soon as he realized he had moved, he went completely still, as though that would somehow mitigate his moment of weakness. "...no..." He shook his head, "You don't know..." He growled, glaring at the possessed man before him, "You _can't_ know for sure that she's dead!" The shaking of his body worsened and, for a moment, the world swam. To his credit, Kilik managed to stay on his feet.

The demon cocked Siegfried's head to one side, not unlike a cat who just saw his prey do something mildly interesting, **"Her." **A sly grin spread over his lips as he purred out, **"She was close to you. Even better." **Not one to overlook the monk's retreat, the demon took another step closer, close enough to be able to touch the smaller man if he so chose to, **"Tell yourself what you would like, worm, but know this: I knew the moment you ripped **_**my**_** influence out of those puppets because I could feel it. Every. Single. One." **Faster than Kilik could dodge in his tired state, a hand shot out and grabbed the monk by his shirt. The demon pulled Kilik forward, lifting the shorter man so they were at eye level with almost no effort, **"It. Hurt. Worm! The only thing keeping me from destroying you right here, **_**right now**_** is that you murdering that wayward chunk of **_**me**_** saved me the trouble of having to do it myself when they got in the way of my plans. But make no mistake. Your death will be not only slow, but painful as well."**

Kilik's hands gripped weakly at his boss' arm. He was so tired. Too tired to struggle. Almost too tired to bother responding. Almost. "Do you think it will hurt more or less than that when I finally take you out, too?" Even his voice betrayed him, sounding as feeble as he felt. Kilik could only hope that the demon didn't kill him as he passed out.

Nightmare would have offered up a retort to the monk, but the foolish little human was unconscious. There was nothing fun he could do with the man other than invade his dreams and try to manipulate- cultivate- the remaining taint in the monk's soul. The remaining bit of Soul Edge was drastically smaller- very nearly nonexistent- than it had been before Nightmare had left town to spread his _influence_ the week before. At the time, he hadn't thought the monk capable of doing much of anything. Apparently, a week was more than enough time for the little worm to be a pain in the ass. The demon realized in the moment when he started feeling bits and pieces of himself being destroyed that the monk was stronger than he had given him credit for. That kind of strength could still be useful and the worm now owed him for the minions that had been destroyed. Sure, he would have killed them himself, eventually, but that was beside the point. He hadn't gotten the chance to kill anything and it was the principle.

Had he not just spent a week pushing his host body to the limit and bringing that strong-willed woman, Ivy, under his sway, he would have corrupted the monk completely right there, but he knew he would not be able to in that state. Hell, he hadn't been able to when the monk had been sleeping the night his host had met that dandy man. Not to mention that getting so much of himself purified because of that off-shoot bitch in the crazy house still hurt. The pain had started shortly after his flight landed him back in town and it only got worse from there as the monk worked his way through the part of the demon that had been so out of his control, yet still a part of him. Briefly, the demon considered sauntering into the building the monk had just come from and slaughtering anything that was left alive in there- there were, after all, a few who had had his influence ripped from them but did not succumb to death. If his host body wasn't so weak, and if his spirit hadn't had chunks of it ripped away and destroyed, he would have. Siegfried's body had been able to handle more than most human bodies, but a human was still a human. Pathetic. Nightmare dropped the monk and slipped back into the recesses of his host's mind. Siegfried could deal with getting them home and resting them while the demon took time to tend to the wounds caused by the monk. Nightmare knew it wouldn't take more than a few days- if even that- to recharge what he had lost from subjugating Ivy, but he didn't know how long it would take him to fix the gaping wounds left in his spirit from that damn worm ripping him out of so many people.

Blue eyes blinked a few times, trying to make sense of what they were seeing. It was dark out. Seemingly endless dark clouds above head made it difficult to tell what time it was. As if to emphasize the menacing nature of the clouds, the air smelt heavy. There was a storm coming. He remembered it being brighter out before. He had also been in his office. Not outside... wherever the hell he was. Siegfried looked around, trying to figure out where it was he had wandered off to while blacked out this time. He hadn't even been feeling the slightest bit stressed before hand. It wasn't right; it didn't make sense.

He froze when he noticed the crumpled body of the IT guy on the ground in front of him. "Not again," he muttered to himself as he knelt down and looked the man over.

Whatever had happened had been bad. Once again, Kilik looked beat to Hell and Siegfried felt fine. Not even a gash on his face. He couldn't remember what he had done to smaller man, but he didn't want to think about it. He was tired in a way that he hadn't felt since the last girl he had been dating and he... well, he hadn't been that kind of tired in a long time. He didn't want to spend much more time out in the middle of wherever he was examining his hurt employee, and he couldn't just leave the man there; especially not if he was responsible for Kilik's condition. Carefully, Siegfried picked up the IT guy, carried him to the car, and loaded him in the back seat.

Unsure of where to go from there, Siegfried decided it might be best to just drive forward. He wasn't familiar with whatever road he was on- it was long, narrow enough that fitting another car next to his would be tricky in a way that made him hope there wouldn't be on-coming traffic, and lined with large trees that had been trimmed to keep from growing over the road- and figured he might have been going that way for a reason. Had he seen Kilik on the side of the road while driving and stopped to confront him? Had he been picking up or dropping the IT guy off somewhere for some reason? He just couldn't remember.

As his car pulled forward and picked up speed, Siegfried realized that his radio was off. He never drove with it off. With a deep frown, he turned it back on and discovered it was also much louder than he was used to and on an odd station; the sudden onslaught of noise made him wince. He quickly messed with the dials to turn the volume down to less than deafening and changed the station back to his usual one. What the hell was going on?

It didn't take too long for the German to come to a large building. Large block letters proclaimed it to be 'The Ravensharp Institute for Psychiatric Wellness'. A smirk broke out on Siegfried's features as he snorted at the situation. Maybe he had been on his way to get help? Maybe Kilik had been trying to make him get help? He didn't know. What he did know was that, despite his usual stance that those doctors were quacks who didn't know what they were talking about, he did need more 'wellness' in his life. He also figured Kilik needed someone to look him over. He didn't know how he was going to explain it to the doctors inside- he could only hope there was at least one _real_ doctor inside, the kind who knew about real medicine instead of that psycho-babble- but he would worry about that after he told them to get the injured man from his car.

Siegfried strode into the building and stopped dead in his tracks as the double doors to the facility closed behind him. There was no one up and doing anything. Instead, everyone in the building was... they were either unconscious or dead. Siegfried couldn't tell. He slowly backed out of the double doors, his eyes watching for any hint of movement from the people in the building. There were enough horror films that took place in asylums and more than enough that started with weird shit going on to tell him that going in there would be a very, very bad plan. The fact that he couldn't be completely sure without a doubt that he didn't somehow cause that- maybe he had attacked them before or after Kilik? He wished he knew- was also a damn good reason to leave, as far as he was concerned.

Whatever it was that had happened, he hoped Kilik would be able to explain whenever he woke up. That was if the man wasn't mad at Siegfried for whatever he had done to him. The chances of that were slim to none. The old green car turned around and was headed, at a much faster speed, away from the crazy house and back to a road Siegfried hoped would lead him somewhere he recognized so he could go home at a much faster speed than the German had approached the institute with.

Part of him considered dropping the IT guy off at his apartment, but that thought was squashed. He couldn't very well see Maxi again and drop off the man's room mate with no explanation of what happened. He also couldn't take Kilik to a hospital. They might see him and connect Siegfried to whatever the hell happened at the institute or something. It wasn't the most logical train of thought that convinced Siegfried to take the smaller man home with him, but Siegfried wasn't working off of logic so much as confusion, a very slim bit of fear, and a lot of wanting the Asian to wake the Hell up and tell him what the Hell happened or was happening or anything.


	22. The Lack of Rest

A/N: Short chapter... sorry, guys. ^.^;;

To the lovely WildMomo24: CAW CAW MOTHERFUCKERS!

To the lovely thalieXVII: I know, I love any time when Nightmare gets to be showing up and making Kilik unhappyface. I'm so glad you like them thinking to themselves. x3

To the lovely 1wngdngl: True story. Kilik just can't have nice things, so honesty just may be the best choice for him. Trying to be coy about this stuff isn't getting him anywhere, huh? XD

To all the other lovelies, I hope you all enjoy the (short . ) chapter and continue to stay with this story. :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

The Lack of Rest

After finding his was through the maze that was the city's highway and road system and getting home, Siegfried had lifted the Asian out of his car and carried him up to a guest bedroom. As he had been driving, the storm overheard broke and rain began to assault the earth, punctuated by flashes of lightening and the roar of thunder every so often. It made carrying the Asian from the car more of a pain in the ass and they were both drenched by the time he got them inside.

The German placed his employee in a bed in the guest room, hoping that being under some covers would help dry him off. He then fished his phone out of his pocket- and was relieved that Kilik's unconscious form had blocked his pockets from the rain and kept he phone from being waterlogged and useless-, called the police, and tipped them off about the loony-bin. Siegfried didn't leave his name or too many details about what they would find at the New Institute; just that something horrible was happening there and they needed help. His plan had been to let Kilik sleep for as long as he needed in the guest room across from his bedroom and ask the IT guy about what the hell had happened at Ravensharp as soon as he woke up.

Less than an hour later, while Siegfried was looking through his phone for any calls or texts out of the ordinary- a fruitless search, as there was nothing from the past week at all- and after he had gotten changed into dry clothes, the screaming started. The sound had been more than a little startling and the German found himself rushing through the house, up the stairs, and to the room he had left the IT guy in. He had not been expecting what he saw.

Kilik's eyes were still closed as his body contorted violently on the bed. He was clawing at himself, ripping his clothing and scratching as his skin as though he were trying to peel his all away. His legs kicked and thrashed at whatever it was in his dreams he was struggling against. The worst of it, though, was the screams. Long, ragged howls of pain and fear tore from the Asian's throat over and over and over and over again. The only pause came when he had run out of breath and needed a quick inhale before another terrible sound escaped him. The raging weather beating against the room's windows somehow added to the frantic violence of the scene.

At first, the blonde had no clue what to do about the situation. He wasn't a doctor! After a panicked moment of staring and trying to think of something, anything, that could help, Siegfried rushed over and did the first helpful thing that came to mine. He tried to grab at Kilik's hands to keep the brunette from clawing his skin off. Once he had a hold of the man's wrists, getting them pinned down wasn't too hard. Siegfried was by far the stronger of the two. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the smaller man from twisting in his grasp and it soon became apparent that Kilik might dislocate his own shoulder or break an arm or something if he kept up his struggling under the German.

By the time Kilik had calmed down, Siegfried found himself on the bed, straddling the man under the covers and pinning his arms down with one hand while covering his mouth with the other. Covering the mouth and straddling was new, but it wasn't exactly the first time he found himself on top of another human being, pinning their arms down. Admittedly, those circumstances were often much more enjoyable and the other person had always been awake and consenting.

For the rest of the night, the entire day after, the next night, and the morning after that, Kilik had fits. Sometimes, they would be hour apart. Other times, Siegfried would be getting off the bed as carefully as he could- so as not to disturb the other- as they started up again. Some were far worse, so much more frenzied, than the others. Kilik was like some kind of ticking time-bomb that could go off at any moment and Siegfried never really knew how terrible it would until he got to the room to deal with it. It was more than a little taxing on the German, who was tempted more and more each time to just tie the man down and leave it like that. It was a fear of Kilik cutting up his wrists and ankles that kept Siegfried from actually doing it. He did, however, admit to himself that he would feel absolutely not guilt about shoving a ball-gag into Kilik's mouth to muffle the screaming if he had one. He had made a mental note to get one at the time.

The second night of Kilik being there was when Siegfried had decided he needed to change his clothing. What the Asian had on had been reduced to shreds- how he managed to do it to the pants was beyond Siegfried, but he didn't ask, not that he would have gotten an answer for his trouble if he did. Finding clothing that might fit the smaller man had involved Siegfried digging through his own closet for clothing that had fit him when he was in high-school. It had been a private school- complete with uniforms- but they did have more casual clothing for Fridays or the day after winning a football game- something that had happened a lot more after Siegfried joined the team. It was a lucky break that Kilik remained passed out and un-agitated when the German removed the tattered chunks of the IT guy's clothes- luckier still was that Kilik's boxers were unharmed in the man's wild attacks against himself- and wiped off any dried blood he found before bandaging any open cuts that looked like they needed it before redressing him. It was by no means the best medical work out there, but there wasn't much else the blonde could really do.

The Asian's skin was somewhat flushed and Siegfried could tell that he had the beginnings of a fever, which probably had something to do with being drenched and then spending so much time in sopping wet clothes and Siegfried's habit of keeping the house more than a little cool on the inside. He hadn't really thought that something like that could honestly get someone sick, but maybe the smaller man was just proned to ill health or maybe it was because his not eating his ancestors thing kept him from being as healthy as he should have been. Either way, all the blonde could really do was place a cool, damp rag over the other man's forehead and hope that that helped in some way.

Siegfried had been reading and rereading the newspaper, trying to find out what had happened at Ravensharp, the next time the screaming started. He dropped it and ran upstairs.


	23. The Difficult Feelings

A/N: A bit of a longer chapter than last time, so that's good. I guess now is as good a time as any to throw out there that the chapter I'm poster and the one I'm actively writing are about... two or three apart. So, things do make sense in the long run. If that makes sense now. XD

To the lovely ThalieXVIII: Yes, it does, but that what guardian angels are for. Asian guardian angels with connections. All mysterious and stuff. :P Also, yeah, Siegfried does in fact have a lot to deal with; all this just a week after his dad passes, too. That's not proper mourning time at all, huh?

To the lovely 1wngdngl: You'll get to see what the police are doing soon enough; don't worry. Seiggy has a lot on his plate, but he also has a demon and a damn good, if not a little too spunky and psychotic, employee who both want his business to not fail horribly, so that's gotta count for something, yeah? That's all I can really say about that right now.

To all you other lovlies reading this, please enjoy and continue to do so. :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

The Difficult Feelings

The horrible sound of screams- tortured, ragged, and continuous- violently ripped Kilik from the nightmare he had been having. Everything around him was dark. There was no way to tell where he was and his brain wouldn't provide an answer as to where he had been before. He couldn't keep himself from thrashing to get away from the horrible sound in the shadows around him, his mind still too hazy to realize why the screams sounded so familiar. He tried to get up- when did he lay down?- to leave wherever he was. Something was trying to keep him pinned. He had to get away; far, far away from the screams and the pain and the eyes that started opening around him, sliding out of the darkness to stare through him. They were accusing him of murder. They said he had killed them. He could have given in and been safe with them; instead, he murdered them and had been dragged away into darkness and surrounded by those screams.

Something heavy and searing hot was keeping him from getting up. The more he struggled, the more forceful it became in its efforts to keep him down. When he tried to push it away, the force pinned his hands down. The screams got louder at that. Kilik didn't think they could. He had to get away from that damn screaming before it drove him insane!

His hands were forced roughly above his head, the force clearly much stronger than him. Once there, one of the two things holding him down vanished and the other kept his arms pinned. Fighting against it was changing nothing. The weight that had lifted from his struggling arms clamped down over his mouth and it was only in that moment that Kilik realized where the screams were coming from. The sound stopped abruptly, dying in his throat when he found out that was where it was originating from. Those horrible, terrified, things he had been trying to escape... they had been coming from him. He had been the one screaming.

Instead of any kind of calm, the realization made him panic more. It was suddenly so hot. Much too hot. He couldn't see who it was above him. Just the eyes. Hateful. In so much pain. Glaring at him as though that would change things, would bring them back to life. Kilik tried to deny the accusations in those eyes. He tried to tell himself they were a trick. They couldn't have been real. He had to get away from them. He struggled more, but to no avail. He was trapped with those glaring eyes and the voices of so many people he couldn't recognize yelling at him, crying at him, hating him, pleading with him. They cried out all the reasons they had to live. They sobbed, terrified and in pain as though dying all over again. Kilik struggled harder against the one pinning him down to get as far away from those eyes and the voices and... he could feel it. He could _feel _them dying around him and it was all his fault. All the pain. His fault.

The voices rallied behind the thought like a mantra. They repeated it over and over, voices bleeding together in a rolling sound that roared and quieted but never fully went away. They were in pain. Kilik was to blame. It hurt so bad. He had hurt them. Killed them. They were suffering and it was all his fault. The monk never wanted to hurt anyone like that. He didn't like fighting. He didn't like causing pain! He couldn't endure their malice and the knowledge of what he had done to them, but he could not run. There was nowhere in the darkness to hide from those all-seeing eyes that were locked on him.

The hand covering his mouth vanished and was replaced by a sudden and sharp pain on his cheek, accompanied by the loud crack of skin on skin. Kilik's eyes shot open as his body was jerked awake by the sudden assault on his person. For a moment, brown eyes stared at a chest of drawers carved out of some kind of dark wood across from him. The rise and fall of his chest as he took a few deep breaths to calm himself was shaky, partially from fear of those eyes that had yet to dissipate, partially from the shock of getting struck. Even the act of breathing hurt a little; his chest and throat were so sore. His mind was struggling to supply guesses at where he was, how he had gotten there, and why. Nothing helpful came of the effort.

Very slowly, Kilik's head turned to examine as best he could the force that had yet to release his hands. At the sight of his wrists being held down by someone, Kilik's gaze fallowed from hand to wrist, up the arm, to finally look at the one who was restraining him. Chocolate brown and baby blue locked onto one another and, for a while, just stared.

It was Kilik who finally broke the silence with a quiet question, "Can I have my hands back now?" When his face moved to speak, he noticed the feeling of something stuck to his cheek. It felt like some kind of adhesive which meant tape or bandage, though tape was highly unlikely.

"Depends," Siegfried's reply was also quiet, as though he worried that speaking louder might shatter the calmness that had settled over Kilik, "Are you going to try to hurt yourself again?"

The monk's brow furrowed, "Hurt myself again?" He couldn't remember going out of his way to hurt himself. He thought back, trying to figure out what those words were implying, but his mind couldn't find anything that made sense. His head was aching with the effort of thinking. He remembered the incident at the New Institute as well as he had the day it happened- that is, he recalled everything until getting stabbed by syringes and everything after coming back to himself in front of a computer- but none of that had been him hurting himself. He remembered seeing the demon. They spoke. The realization that he was still alive after the encounter was a shock, but not in any way that upset him. Only that he had woken up with his boss over him saved Kilik from believing that incident had been something his mind- perhaps even his tainted blood- had conjured up.

It was clearly written on Siegfried's face that Kilik's answer had been less than satisfactory; still, the pressure on the smaller man's wrists vanished as the German released him and straightened himself. He gave a small snort and said something in German under his breath, but Kilik didn't have to speak the language to figure it must have been something annoyed. He had probably just been insulted, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He had more important things to worry about, like the dull ache in the back of his head, how sore he felt everywhere, how tired he still felt despite just waking up, how hot he still felt, and how hungry he was. Carefully, the monk sat up on the bed, ignoring the clothe that fell from his forehead with the motion. It hurt to move, but he held back any physical indication of it- Zhange He would have been proud. He barely glanced over the room, mostly to see where the exit was instead of actually taking in the details, before examining himself.

He wasn't in his usual outfit of button down white shirt, black tie, black slacks, black socks. Instead, brown eyes stared, confused, down at what must have been an old blue T-shirt with a golden-yellow blob that must have been a school mascot on it. Though, why anyone would want 'vaguely cat-shaped blob' as there mascot was beyond Kilik. His arms were covered in scratches of varying sizes that ran from 'not even breaking the skin' to 'probably had to have a band-aid or something put on it when it had been done', along with a few bandages that were still on his skin. Slowly, the monk raised a hand to his neck to feel around there for any more bandages- there was one where his neck met his shoulder- while Siegfried watched him, blue eyes trying to discern whether to let the other man keep up his examination or to stop him. Since Kilik wasn't harming himself, Siegfried let him continue.

Lifting the covers revealed that the black slacks had been replaced by a pair of baggy shorts that were, again, a size or two too large for the Chinese man. He was fairly certain he could guess where the new clothing had come from, but that only really left him with the question of where his clothes had gotten to. Instead of looking his body over more, Kilik let the blanket drop back down and turned his gaze to the man standing by the bed. If he was going to get answers, Siegfried was most likely the only one who could provide.

Looking into those blue eyes revealed that the brunette was not the only one with questions to ask. There was an almost urgent curiosity in that gaze that was being held on him and Kilik wasn't sure whether or not that would make the conversation he knew he was going to have to have with his boss eventually easier. He was hoping it would as he said, still quietly, "I'll answer your questions if you answer mine."

"What makes you think I have questions?" Siegfried answered Kilik's proposal too quickly and sounded too upset for Kilik to take the question seriously. While the smaller of the two was perfectly willing to admit that his boss was a difficult man to read and he didn't know him all that well, he also knew that Siegfried had left the office in a hurry- except, he had doubted the entire time that it had been Siegfried- and it didn't take a genius or a mind reader or, really, someone who knows the person well to know that suddenly being awake and realizing its a new day- how long could Siegfried have been out? The entire trip?- would leave anyone with questions.

"I would have questions," Kilik said, carefully, watching the other man, "If I started to go blank and lose track of time." He tried to convey with his eyes the things that he was so awkward at saying out loud. He knew what was wrong with his boss and he knew how to fix the problem. Kilik wanted to fix the problem and finally be able to go home. He could only hope that the look in his eyes said 'let me help you' more clearly than he could say in words.

Something must have worked, because Siegfried gave a small nod. Despite crossing his arms in a closed-off and defensive position, the blonde asked, "How did you know?" There was a thread of suspicion laced into the words, but it was almost canceled out by the way the words sounded less angry than Kilik would have imagined. More than anything, Siegfried sounded tired when he asked, "Is it that obvious?"

Kilik offered up a small shrug in response and made a mental note that the action upset his upper back- the pain had been expected after what had happened at the New Institute, but it occurred to him in that moment that he actually felt worse than he did when leaving that place. His words were quiet when he said, "It is if you know what to look for."

"And you know what to look for." It came out as a statement. Siegfried didn't look entirely convinced, but he wasn't actively changing the subject or telling Kilik to stop talking. It was more progress than the monk would have been able to make when the two first met and that was enough for Kilik.

"I..." Despite the progress, Kilik's words faltered slightly. Demons weren't things people believed in any more- with the only possible exception being the very religious, who Kilik wanted to be lumped in with as much as the crazies- and speaking about them as though they were real might make Siegfried doubt him. Being called crazy wouldn't fix the situation. He finally settled on, "My sister and I... we had a similar problem once, long ago. I got better. She got worse." It was vague and could mean whatever Seigfried needed it to mean to make him believe in the monk at that point.

The German got very still the moment Kilik finished. There was something in the suddenly tense set of his shoulders and the way he had to swallow past something- probably something terrible- before speaking that put the monk slightly on edge. "This sister of yours, was she getting help somewhere?"

Covering up the small winces and shivers and sounds that came with physical pain was something Kilik had gotten skilled at before leaving the Temple, and it was a habit that he had no intention of losing. Physical pain was easy enough to ignore. The trembling that threatened to break out just under Kilik's skin had nothing to do with physical pain and was much harder to push back. The monk kept his face as blank as he could, the only things that could give away his inner-turmoil as thoughts of that place and Xianglian rushed back were the slight tightening of his jaw that he tried- and failed- to prevent and whatever it was that passed though his eyes. He had never been able to control the emotions that danced in his eyes. "She was. At the New," he shook his head and tried again, "At the Ravensharp Institute." He doubted he would need to say the whole name for Siegfried to understand and could only hope that the blonde hadn't seen inside that night. That he didn't know what happened or that Kilik had been the one to cause it. There was no suitable lie to make himself seem anything but a murderer after what he- Soul Calibur? He didn't even know how it was possible. To the best of his knowledge, the holy blade had never possessed him before or had any real contact with his soul.

If Siegfried noticed the pain, sorrow, or fear in Kilik's eyes, it didn't show. He was too focused with his own guilt to study the smaller man or read into his reaction to the mention of that place or his sister. The German walked stiffly out of the room, giving nothing by way of word or warning, not even a glace behind. There was a silent pause while Kilik tried his best to come up with something- anything- to save the situation. He couldn't. He had been closer than ever to getting Siegfried to trust him, maybe believe in him enough to be purified and he had said the wrong thing. He could have lied and said so many things that wouldn't have hurt. The monk did not want to think about why he didn't; why he had chosen to go as close to the truth as he could. It wasn't like him to want to be open with others.

None of the stiffness had left the blonde by the time he returned to the room and he refused to look at the Asian, blue eyes darting around the room while he walked a few steps in. He stopped between Kilik and the door before tossing a newspaper onto the bed. The only word given was a soft, "I'm sorry." It would have been inaudible if not for the silence of the room.

Before the monk could ask what Siegfried had been apologizing for, or what the paper was, his host turned and walked out of the room again. There had been something there, in the way Siegfried carried himself, that made Kilik shift on the bed uncomfortably. In the short time since meeting the man, the monk had never seen his boss look or act anything like that; it was something caught between hurt, guilt, and anger. That only served to make the newspaper in his lap both a curiosity and something threatening.

The monk forced his hands to move despite the trepidation he felt and quick brown eyes scanned over the paper, looking for whatever it was he was meant to see. The first thing he noticed was that the date was later than it should have been; he had to have been out for at least a day. The second thing was a headline that caught his eyes and held them there for a moment. **TRAGIC SCENE AT NEW INSTITUTE**. There was no doubting which article Siegfried wanted him to read and a fresh wave of panic washed over the monk. Part of him didn't want to look at it, didn't want to read the words or face the reality of what he had done. He knew that Siegfried had to have read the article, he wouldn't have given it to Kilik if he hadn't. Despite how much of him wanted to throw the damn thing to the wall and leave- run- brown eyes pushed beyond the headline to read.

"_An anonymous tip was called to the police yesterday about something happening at the Ravensharp Institute or Mental Wellness. Due to the vagueness of the call, the police- then believing the whole thing to be a prank- tried contacting the Institute. After several failed attempts, a squad car was sent over to investigate. Upon arrival, the officers found a grizzly scene._

_ "It was something out of a horror movie," Officer Alexandria, one of the first to the scene, confessed to the press shortly after the investigation began. "There were bodies everywhere."_

_ "Littering the rooms and halls of the New Institute were bodies of both patients and doctors alike. The numbers and names of survivors are, as of the printing of this article, being withheld by the police for their protection. _

_ "Rumors have surfaced that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has sought the aid of Interpol on the case, but no official statement has been released to confirm or deny this. Whatever is going on, citizens are urged to stay away from the New Institute for the time being and to keep an eye out for any escaped patients. Anyone with any information about the incident are to contact police immediately at..."_

It was almost a relief that the article had been so short, so sparing of details. Then again, he wasn't sure how many details there had been to give. The only bodies that didn't look as though they were going about their day- business as usual in the nut house- were the ones in Xianglian's cell that had been unconscious when they were purified. No blood. No fingerprints. Nothing that connected him to the crime other than his presence there. Siegfried had been the one to find him there and he would be able to pose as a witness, placing Kilik at the scene around the time of death. Whether or not Siegfried had already called the police was hard to tell, but the monk was betting they hadn't been yet. If they had been, he would likely have woken up in a cell or in a hospital surrounded by cops instead of in a room that he could only assume belonged to his boss. That alone held possibilities. Perhaps Siegfried wanted to talk; to question him about what had happen or maybe he thought Kilik had been the only one to survive the incident? None of that explained his boss' reaction to the words they had shared about his problem and the institute.

Despite the painful protest of his body, Kilik pushed the blanket and sheet back and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He was careful as he slid off the mattress and his feet found the soft carpet that covered the floor. His vision swam and it was no surprise when his knees buckled at first and he had to catch himself on the bed to avoid falling to the floor; his body did not want to get up and be any kind of active after being so worn out and whatever the hell had cut him up during the day he had spent passed out. Those protests were ignored as the monk took a deep breath and gently pushed away from the bed as soon as the room stilled around him. His legs did not give a second time, and after the first few steps he was able to walk without wobbling.

Making it out of the room and into the hallway, Kilik stopped. He had no clue about the layout of the house he was in and found himself looking around for some sort of clue as to where to go. To his left was a door and across from him was a door- both closed. He turned and went to the right, a hand gently against the wall in case he needed to steady himself. The wall across from him in the hallway ended to reveal a stairway leading down. Kilik stopped walking to lean against the wall and take in what he could see, hoping it would give him some clue as to where his boss could be. Just passed the stairway on his right was a large room that housed a bar, a couple of tall stools in front of said bar, dart board, and all the things that went along with such décor; the bright juke box that sat in the far corner, across from the bar, made the monk give a small snort- somehow, he was not shocked to find a room like that in Siegfried's house. He could make out another door at the end of a hallway that started up beyond the room with the dart board and assumed there was a door to the left and one to the right again, mirroring the side of the house he had just come from. At least six rooms in the house, provided none of the doors lead to closets. He considered opening the doors to find out.

A voice from the bottom of the stairs caught Kilik off-guard and caused the brunette to give a small jump in surprise. He mentally kicked himself for being careless enough for anyone to sneak up on him like that, and then again for actually giving that reaction. He really must have been tired. The voice sounded again and chocolate eyes shifted from the doors on the other side of the pool room to the

source of the voice. His boss was frowning at him, "...well?"

There were several possible options that lay before the Chinese man: he could guess what it was that Siegfried had said and try to give an appropriate response, or he could ignore that Siegfried had said anything and jump right into speaking about what happened at the New Institute, or he could say absolutely anything that would stall him having to have that conversation. The words that came from the brunette's lips were not the ones he had expected, "I wasn't listening." The words were truthful, but they were also probably rude. Quietly, he added on an apology to try to make up for it.

The look on Siegfried's face was less than amused as he crossed his arms- somehow, it reminded Kilik of how some of the older women at the Temple who tended to the health of their brothers and sisters looked at the children when they did something foolish and upset wounds that had yet to heal or pushed themselves too hard before they were healthy enough to do so. He repeated, "What are you doing up? You should be in bed resting."

"We need to talk." The words were meant to sound defiant, but they ended up coming out too quiet, weaker than Kilik had meant.

Siegfried snorted, "You can talk from a bed. You were doing it just fine before." His lips twitched slightly, though it seemed more in spite of himself than from actual joy, like something was amusing when it really shouldn't have been, "We've even established you can scream from a bed."

As if to emphasize how much he did not want to go back to that room and lay in that bed- with the risk of falling asleep and having another fit of screams and panic and pain- Kilik moved away from the wall and down the stairs. His had stayed on the railing the entire way down to steady himself, though he never really needed it; better safe than falling down a stairwell and cracking his skull open. The last thing the monk needed was to need a trip to the hospital- or to accidentally kill himself- because he was too proud to hold a railing while injured.

"Please," he said softly, chocolate meeting sky as he gave Siegfried the same face he had used as a child to get Zhange He to allow him to do things he was not necessarily allowed to, it was one that he had not used since his teacher had changed and part of Kilik was worried he was out of practice at it.


	24. The Skeptical Acceptance

A/N: As sappy as things get between these two, huh? A bit of explanation and a lot of wordy.

To the lovely 1wngdngl: Ha ha... breakfast. I'm still debating on whether or not to have Siegfried cook something in bacon grease or slip Kilik something with meat in it for funsies. Also, I have a few choices mapped out for Kilik's destiny and none of them involve stewing in guilt, but some of them are less than happily ever after. And Sieggy... well... heh heh heh... .

To the lovely ThalieXVII: In my head, they have guilt-offs. :P I'm glad you like the explanations for how they feel. Also, I can picture that, too. I kinda picture Siegfried would have gotten his 'I'm going to win at everything' side from his dad and a soft spot for feeding/helping people from his mom. xD

To all the other lovlies reading this story: Please continue to read and I hope you enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

The Skeptical Acceptance

Standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at the IT guy in his old clothes from high school that still managed to be a size or two- maybe three- large on the smaller man, Siegfried felt his eyes soften slightly. He could remember the times when he was a child and he got sick and wanted anything but to be quarantined in his room alone. What he wanted had never really mattered. He was well aware that the man staring down at him was no child and that he was clearly some kind of tough if his ability to get beaten to Hell and still pick himself back up and do anything other than wallowing in self-pity- multiple times, even- was anything to go by. When Kilik managed to make it down the stairs without falling, the German was tempted to pick his little ass back up and take it back to the guest bedroom so the stubborn man could actually rest. Though, standing there in those too-big clothes looking frail and hurt with those puppy-dog eyes and the slight blush showing that his fever had yet to go down...

"Fine." Siegfried stepped back from the stairway and turned around and motioned for the other to fallow him as he walked back to the kitchen, where he had been making coffee in an attempt to calm his nerves. The thought of making food occurred to him, but he hadn't actually started cooking before the sound of movement had distracted him. Another black-out fit, one that had apparently lasted just over a damn week, another after-effect of severe hunger. He was eating enough for two, maybe four, people, which was more than a slight concern.

If Siegfried hadn't been the proud man he was, and if he didn't harbor a mistrust of doctors, he would have gotten himself checked out and probably would have known what was wrong with him. It might have somehow prevented whatever happened at Revensharp, though he still had no clue what had occurred there. He knew it had something to do with the man fallowing behind him, but what? That was what he wanted to find out.

Bubbling from the coffee maker was the only sound as the two men entered the kitchen and Siegfried was grateful for the smell from the brewing pot that permeated the air; it always helped him to stay calm or clear his head. He strode across the large kitchen to lean against the counter by the pot to wait for it to finish so he could get himself a cup. Kilik trailed slightly behind and made his way over to one of the chairs that sat around the small table at the back of the kitchen as soon as he saw it. Despite being able to walk without falling over, he sank into the chair like a rock in a pond and ruined any illusion of not being exhausted that he thought he had been showing. Instead of calling him out on it, Siegfried slid his gaze away from the Asian and towards the large windows that lined the wall behind the table and showed off a perfect view of the large back yard of the house. Said windows allowed the soft morning light to spread into the room, a pleasant contrast to the storm that had been going from the night he had seen Ravensharp until the night after.

For a time, the two stayed like that. They stared across the room as chocolate and sky each waited for the other to say something. For a man who had dragged himself out of bed when he should have been sleeping for the sole purpose of talking, Kilik was being damn quiet and Siegfried found it almost frustrating. If the man had something to say, he should damn well say it instead of just sitting with his mouth shut. Despite that, Kilik being down there and awake meant that Siegfried wouldn't have to worry about any more screaming or having to hold anyone down for a while. Hopefully. Kilik didn't seem too uncomfortable with the situation, but the way his gaze was almost piercing frustrated the blonde man. A conversation where no one was going to say something was useless. It made dragging the Asian back up stairs and throwing him onto the bed so he could rest seem better and better as time went on.

"You said we needed to talk." Siegfreid broke the quiet first, "So talk." He had not been in a very good mood and waiting for Kilik to say something hadn't been helpful. It was true that he had questions he wanted to ask the smaller man, most of which pertaining to the black outs and how Kilik had gotten better, if he was telling the truth about going through the same problem, but he was not going to be the first to ask things.

The bruised man's lips twitched slightly as a frown attempted to form and was forced away. He seemed to be considering something; the weight of his thoughts clearly showed in his eyes and the way his shoulders slumped slightly. The German was about to say something again, or maybe just growl in frustration, when Kilik beat him to it and said simply, "Thank you." His gaze finally lowered from Siegfried's, settling instead on his hands in his lap. The blonde let out a small breath he had not been aware he had been holding. Kilik continued, "You could have left me where you found me or taken me to a hospital, but you instead chose to bring me here and care for me yourself. For that, I thank you. That aside," the Asian's fists clenched and unclenched as though getting the next words out had been more of a challenge than it should have to the smaller man, "What do you remember about Ravensharp?"

Siegfried snorted and suddenly found picking out a mug for his coffee to be far more interesting than looking at the brunette. He was facing away from his guest when he responded, "Enough to want to know what you were doing there." The answer wasn't exactly a lie, but he doubted it was what Kilik had wanted to hear.

With his host looking away, Kilik didn't bother to hide the frown that grew on his features. "If you answer my question," his words were interrupted by a yawn that had been impossible to hold back, much to the IT guy's dismay, "I'll answer yours."

"That was an answer," Siegfried grunted as he poured the coffee into his cup. He didn't bother sweetening it or adding any kind of milk before joining his guest at the table.

Kilik's face returned to a neutral mask by the time Siegfried had turned back around. He blinked a few times, his eyes staying closed a little too long each time, before giving the blonde as good of an answer as he had been given, "I remember enough to know that I wasn't this bruised before waking up here." There was another yawn before the brunette asked, "Was that newspaper from today?"

It would have been cute how much Kilik was failing in his attempt to not look tired if Siegfried hadn't also been tired and, as a result, grumpy. Instead, it just seemed somewhat annoying. They could both have been sleeping in that moment. They both needed sleep. Of course, it wasn't happening. Even if he did force Kilik back to bed, he probably wouldn't be able to sleep knowing that the screaming and masochism could start at any moment. "If you're trying to ask how long you've been out, the answer is a day an a half." He took a long sip from his coffee before asking, "Are we going to get to the part of this conversation that was important enough for you to drag yourself down here soon?" He sounded as irritable as he felt, which was much easier when not confronted with the puppy dog look.

"Yes." Kilik gave his head a little shake before resting his forehead in his hand. His voice was quiet, clearly exhausted, when he asked, "Do you believe in demons?"

Clearly, there was a reason the other man had been at the crazy-house and Siegfried was pretty sure he understood what that reason was; the smaller man was psychotic. That, or he was deliriously tired. Siegfried was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He took another gulp of coffee before glaring at the bruised man across from him, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he replied "Yeah, sure. Who wouldn't? I'll bet that's what my problem is. A demon. Thank you so much, Kilik. I don't know how I could ever have gotten through this without such _ancient Chinese wisdom_." He set his mug down harder than he should have and was briefly relieved that it didn't break from the action.

The sound of ceramic on the solid wood of the table made Siegfried's guest jump a little, the miniature heart attack seeming to wake him up a little, "Don't be an ass," he snapped back. It looked like there were more words threatening to spill out, but whatever was there was held back; Kilik's jaw clenched shut with effort.

So many responses rose from those words, but none of them seemed quite right. Some were much too mean and others weren't nearly spiteful enough to appease the small gash in the German's pride at being called an ass. True, he didn't start fights regularly and it was also true that he wasn't nearly as easily angered as he had been in his youth, but that didn't mean he enjoyed being snapped at by pissy runts. With nothing else to offer up, Siegfried found himself telling the truth to the computer nerd, "Listen, Kilik, I'm fucking exhausted from having to keep you from doing," he waved his hand away, not completely sure what the man had been trying to do while unconscious and not having a better way to explain it, "Whatever the hell you were doing to yourself with the screams and the scratching. Give me one good reason not to throw your ass back into bed, or just throwing your ass out, and getting some God damn sleep."

"Alright. You left the country without knowing why," something showed in those tired, chocolate eyes that Siegfried had trouble understanding. It was as though, despite wanting to close and rest, his eyes were at once trying to hold back and push forward something that the German couldn't really understand. If he had been witnessing anger in those eyes, it would have made perfect sense to him, but it wasn't anger. It wasn't sadness. It was some kind of deep stillness that the blonde knew he had seen before but couldn't quite place. Something must have shown on Siegfried's face in reaction to the words, because the IT guy gave a quick exhale that sounded like some kind of chagrin laugh, "Or did you not know about that? How long were you out? Since before you left? Did you wake up over there?" The questions must have been rhetorical because Kilik didn't give time for answers as he continued his rant, "You aren't throwing me out because you won't go back to Ravensharp, not that they could help if you did, and I'm the only one who can tell you what's going on, why you don't remember and, more importantly, how to keep it form happening again and again and again until you black out and never wake up." For a small part of Siegfried, the unexpected part wasn't the rant itself so much as the IT guy talking so much, though he did see a slightly more talkative side of the smaller man when they were eating together after the butterfly incident. The part of the German that cared figured it was just how he got when he was tired.

Instead of responding with actual words, the blonde settled for glaring at the man across from him. As much as Siegfried wanted to be able to tell the smaller man that he was wrong and that nothing like that had ever happened, he couldn't. He couldn't deny that he had found his passport in his pocket and that it had a stamp in it that he could not remember getting. At some point in between answering the phone and seeing Kilik on the ground, unconscious and beaten to Hell, he had taken a little trip to England for some purpose that he could not recall. He was not going to humor the demon thing, but he did have to admit that there was something going on that he could not explain and the only place he might have been able to get help at- if he had believed they would have been any help, which the jury was still out on- was now blocked off by crime-scene tape and being combed over by the police.

Kilik remained quiet, waiting for a response from his host. Even in his current state, even as exhausted and hurt as he looked, his lips were set in a thin line as he stared at the German, as though daring the other man to contradict anything he had just said. Even without bruises or the bandage covering the wound on his face, the bags under the computer geek's eyes and way his skin was slightly flushed and covered in a light sheen of sweat would have betrayed the challenging set of the smaller man's features. It was clear that Kilik was going to hold firm to his beliefs- as crazy as they were- in the face of his boss' glare for as long as his body could. Hell, from where Siegfried was sitting, he wouldn't have been surprised if the stubborn Asian would force himself to stay awake if he felt it would somehow get his point across or make Siegfried believe him. The look on the IT guy's face reminded him of when they had first met- it felt like so much longer ago than it really was, months instead of days somehow- when Kilik had mistaken him for some guy trying to get a job and didn't apologize or kiss Siegfried's ass upon learning that the other man was actually his new boss. If nothing else, it was admirable. A Schauffen was no stranger to a strong will and was always willing to give proper credit to those who possessed such a thing.

Lacking a counter-argument, Siegfrid found himself doing something he almost never had reason to do. He relented, the words feeling foreign on his tongue as he spoke, "You're right. I don't remember leaving the country and I..." He paused. Neither asking for help nor admitting he was wrong were familiar things to Siegfried Schauffen, but he was being forced to do both. Quietly, he continued, "I don't know what's happening to me. At first, I thought it was stress, but..." He gave a frustrated growl and a shake of his head, remembering his increased appetite and how he had been able to haul his employee around without nearly as much effort as he should have been putting into it. How he had been noticing the other man more than he should have- his scent, his aura- with no explanation to the changes other than 'stress'. "I don't believe in demons." More than having to give ground in an argument and more than being tired and hungry, Siegfried was bothered by the fact that he had been avoiding the realization that things within him were changing because it forced a cold feeling to run up his spine that he hated more than anything else. Fear. Justifying what had been happening to him kept the feeling at bay, but he could no longer blame emotional backlash from his father's death and that caused that feeling to begin creeping along his skin. Fight or flight had never been a difficult choice for Siegfried and, as that prickling feeling began to spread outward, he found himself glaring harder at the man across form him, as though that would somehow help him feel better. It didn't.

Something changed, something that Siegfried could not identify, as the almost unsettling stillness in the brown depths of Kilik's eyes shattered under the weight of something else. If it had been pity, the German would have been filled with resentment and railed against whatever Kilik would have said or suggested, but it was not pity. There was a kind of understanding that drained some of the fight out of the look the head of the Schauffen house had been giving and stole some of the tense readiness from his body. If there was going to be a fight, it was not going to be with the IT guy.

"You don't have to believe." Kilik's voice was softer than it had been, as though his strength had drained from him with the stillness. There was no doubt in Siegfried's mind that the Asian would have remained defiant to any threats, but it would most likely not be as spirited and he wondered how much longer Kilik would be able to keep himself awake. The yawn that escaped the smaller man's throat indicated that it might not have been much longer. "Just let me try."

The thought of the Chinese man trying anything and just passing out on him made Siegfried snort. He shook his head and stood up, "You have a fever and neither of us have had much rest in a while." He wasn't sure what the Hell Kilik had been through before finding him on the ground, but he doubted the smaller man had gotten much more sleep than he had while he did whatever the hell he did in England. From the way his lower body had been sore... he _really_ did not want to think about it. Pushing that thought aside, he continued, "Anything you might be able to do," he was still skeptical, but it wasn't like he had any alternative options on hand, "Can wait."

Believing the discussion to be over, Siegfreid took his mug from the table and calmly walked it over to the sink. The sound of running water as he rinsed out his mug wasn't enough to drown out the sound of Kilik's chair moving as the Asian stood. Clearly, someone was too sick to pull any Asian ninja stealth crap. After placing the rinsed cup into the dishwasher, Siegfried turned around to find his guest standing uncomfortably close to him. The two weren't yet touching, but it wouldn't take much- not even a full step- to change that. Siegfried could feel the heat radiating off of the smaller man and he wondered just how bad the other's fever could have gotten. The odd calming sensation that sometimes accompanied the Asian man was there, interlaced with the heat in an oddly pleasant way, but not pleasant enough to change the German's mind about whether or not Kilik was well enough to be able to help him at all.

"It can wait," Siegfried repeated.

"Your word," the brunette's words were soft and a little breathy, as though he was only barely awake, "Give me your word you'll let me try." He wavered slightly on his feet.

His word was not something Siegfried gave lightly, unlike some of the other men he had met throughout his life, but he had the feeling that the man in front of him understood that. Even dressed in too-big clothes and in his current physical condition, there was a seriousness to the Asian that almost never went away. Siegfried gave a small nod, "You have my word I'll let you try to help." His lips twitched slightly, forming as small smirk as he added, "After we get some sleep." If he was going to have to promise to allow aid, he was going to add on a stipulation. If not, there was no telling how much longer it would be until he got some sleep or how much damage Kilik would do to himself just by being stubborn. Whether or not it was more or less than he had been doing while passed out was debatable, but that was a bridge the German would cross whenever he got to it. Part of him hoped he wouldn't have to get to it again, but he was too much of a realist to assume hoping would really change anything.

Kilik's mouth opened and it looked like he was going to say something, but no sound came out. Instead, his body fell forward as his eyes slid shut and Siegfried found himself supporting the weight of his unconscious IT guy. Once again, Siegfried Schauffen found himself carrying the smaller man upstairs. By the time he got to the guest bedroom door, he had changed his mind on where he was going to put his guest. Instead of opening the door in front of him, the blonde turned around and opened the door to his own room. If sleeping in Kilik's room, next to the man in his arms, had kept the nightmares at bay while he was drunk, who was he to guess that sleeping in his room wouldn't help the sick Asian? His logic wasn't flawless, but it was good enough for his tired mind. At the very least, he reasoned, he wouldn't have to go very far if the smaller man started screaming and hurting himself again.


	25. The Bitter Pawn

A/N: Friday again. Much like my (poor) grasp of French, my handle on Japanese is atrocious, so I'm sorry for any mistakes in this chapter concerning that language. This chapter was one of the easiest to name in a long time. Sweet. Minor character introduction and this chapter is... well, I liked it a lot. Honestly. XD

To the lovely 1wndngl: That we do, that we do. ^.~ The thought of Siegfried wolfing down five burgers is priceless! Really, though, absolutely nothing is as easy as it seems.

To the lovely ThalieXVII: They are getting somewhere, as is the plot of this story (I promise!). Also, Soul Edge if nothing if not amazing at finding and seizing opportunities. Can't be an evil blade and survive as long as he has without a certain level of cunning. xD

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

The Bitter Pawn

Try as it might, light could not penetrate the dark curtains nailed to the wall over the single window in the room Maxi and Kilik shared. It wasn't the classiest way to keep the light out, but Maxi didn't care so long as it allowed him to sleep in on his days off without the sun waking him up, and Kilik didn't care enough to say anything. In the darkened room, still spread out on his mattress and only partially covered by blanket, was the dandy man himself, as dead to the world as he had been the moment his head hit the pillow the night before- or very early morning, depending on actual time versus perception of time. Without having to get up for work or being woken up by his room mate for any reason, there were few things that could have motivated the Japanese man to get up before he was damn good and ready to.

The very top thing on the short list of things that could have gotten him up early was a very specific ring tone he had set in his phone. It was a traditional Japanese tune that clashed with the usual classic rock or generic ring tones that he had set to other things and was seldom actually heard from his mobile device. Despite the sparsity of the tune, it was one that Maxi would never forget or ignore whenever it actually did go off. Had Kilik been around, he would have been amazed at the way dark eyes suddenly opened and the notoriously 'five more minutes' Maxi shot into a sitting position with his phone held to his ear almost as soon as the ring tone began playing. That his heart did not burst from the too-rapid transition from sleep to pounding wildly in his chest was an impressive feat for the pirate.

With wide eyes glancing about the room and his breath coming more shallowly than he would have liked, he quietly spoke into the phone, "Maxi here." Somehow, his trepidation made even the gravely tone of his just-out-of-slumber voice timid.

The voice at the other end of the phone was calm and he knew the moment he heard it who was calling him and why. She sounded pissed, "You have been sloppy. I have your mess contained for now, but do not let it happen again. We cannot afford to have the police interfering in our business."

"_Gomen nesai, Taki-dono_." The formality felt more foreign than the language he hadn't used in so long as it fell from his lips, but he knew too well what could happen if he wasn't a good little pawn. He could rally against it, he wanted to rally against it with every bit of himself, but he knew- even after all his years of pretending he was free or, at the very least, on a long leash- how high the stakes were. He would be formal if he had to.

Whatever response he was going to get from the Japanese woman was put on hold as she said something muffled- she must have been covering the phone with her hand as she addressed whoever she was talking to. After a short conversation between Taki and whoever else was on the other end of the phone and a short pause- probably her waiting for them to get out of ear shot- the woman continued, her voice a quiet threat as she spoke, "I will continue to keep the investigation moving slowly and the target and the host off of any official radar. You will continue to babysit. Keep them from causing any more messes until we are ready to proceed with our plans!"

Maxi's quiet, "_Wakarimashita_," hung in silence of the room. He wasn't sure if she had heard it before hanging up on him, but it didn't really matter either way. He had been given his orders, more of the same when compared to what he had been told the last time he checked in with the family, and he would fallow it. He would have to fallow it. The urge to throw the phone across the room was strong, but he refrained.

While his heart slowed down to a less frantic pace, the dandy man got up from his mattress and gathered some clothes from his clean pile on the floor before heading to the small bathroom he shared with the younger man. His stuff was still randomly about and Kilik's things were still neatly where they should be; a picture of normalcy that was at once comforting and frustrating. He stripped and stepped into the shower before turning on the water. Cold liquid assaulting his skin caused the black-haired man to jump slightly. It didn't take long for cold to become warm to become hot and ease the stage-pirate into a relaxed state as he went about grooming himself. If he was going to be a good babysitter, he was going to have to be in a better mood and showering was the fastest way he could think to achieve that. If there had been someone suitable around for it, he would have preferred getting laid, but he had to work with what he had and what he had readily available between those two options was a shower.

Once clean, dried, dressed and in as good a mood as he was going to get that day, he returned to his room to retrieve his phone. His only consolation as he dialed the number he had gotten more than a few years before- when the man he was calling had first gotten a phone- was that he had gotten a good run of time where he didn't have to think about the serious stuff and got to relax into a comfortable- if not a little boring- life with someone who wasn't too annoying. If he hadn't known what had been planned, he might even have allowed himself to like the kid a little more. A lot more. The slight ache in his chest as he listened to the phone ringing told him that he was lying to himself. He ignored it and waited for an answer.

Several rings later, he was sent to the voice mailbox of the man he had been calling. The dandiest of men grinned, as though that would help him sound more perfectly-normal-cheerful and carefree when he said, "Hey, Kilik! You haven't come home and I haven't heard from you in a while and you kinda pay half my rent, so I sorta wanted to check in and see what was up. You didn't get drunk without me or get yourself hurt, did you?" The memory of the last time he had seen the smaller man drunk brought an honest laugh from the stage-pirate as he finished his message with, "Call me back, alright?" With a light tap on the screen, the call was ended and Maxi was left to wait.

Waiting had never been one of Maxi's strong points and he soon found himself in the second bedroom of the apartment. The room should have been housing one of the two occupants of the apartment while the other took the room that the men shared, but it wasn't. Instead, it housed a ridiculously large aquarium that the landlord didn't know about in half of the room and a ridiculous set-up of more than a few different computers interconnected in some way that Maxi didn't bother trying to understand in the other. It was clear to both men that if either set-up were to come into serious contact with the other the room would become an electric-water death trap, but neither was willing to move what they loved for the sake of preventing that. Memories of the argument they had had over who got to use the room for what and the sight of his salt-water fish swimming blissfully around their tank brought a smile to the Japanese man's face. His mind drifted from the past to the present, trying to guess what his room mate was up to that kept him from calling back already. It must have been at least five minutes since he called and Maxi really didn't want to be kept waiting for too long. Then again, for him, one minute was usually too long to wait for something. He really, _really_ hated waiting for anything.

Part of him had a feeling from Taki's words that his room mate and his drinking buddy were somewhere together. Whatever it was that she was keeping contained, it sounded like it involved the two of them together. He supposed it would be easy to call back and ask her exactly what mess she was cleaning up, but that would most likely piss the already busy-as-Hell woman off and he didn't need to deal with that. Ever.

The calm movements of his fish as they swam around the tank did little to abate the restless energy of the Japanese man who stood watching them. Maxi was rarely the kind of man to laze about and his mobile nature tended to grow into an unbearable need to do something- anything- with his time whenever he was forced to wait for something. Without the grin that usually accompanied the action, Maxi stalked out of the room to the kitchen and grabbed the large plastic cylinder that held his fishes' food from one of the cabinets before returning to the room that held is babies. He gave a fanfare whistle, part of him never growing tired of how they knew what it meant and swam to the surface every time he did it, and slid open a part at the top of the tank so he would be able to pour the food into the water before sliding the part closed once more. Watching his babies eat wasn't as much of a distraction from the way time crawled by without a response from his room mate as the dandy man had hoped.

Again, he found himself stalking out of the room to put the food away. Despite his desire for the contrary, the phone remained silent. Maxi frowned and grabbed his keys before heading the the door, intent on getting food or wandering to some shop or other or doing absolutely anything with his time to distract himself from waiting for the call back from the man he had been watching over for years. A man who, he was sure, had gotten himself into some kind of trouble and was possibly in pain or worried or fucking something and had not called or talked to Maxi. The thought brought a frustrated growl from the pirate, who turned and threw his keys as hard as he could across the apartment and into a wall before he had been able to make it to the door. Metal hit drywall with a loud clang, then hit the carpeted floor with a more dulled thud. The crumpled pile of keys on the floor was ignored by Maxi. His storm-gray eyes were unfocused as the usually happy man found himself slipping into uncharacteristic silence, memories of the past pulling his attention away from everything.

_As far back as Maxi could remember, Kyam had been by his side. They were best friends and brothers in everything save for actual blood relations, but that was a small detail in the mind of two young men who both mourned the passing of Maxi's father on the old man's ship. The youths didn't really know what to do with themselves after losing the guidance of the only other person on the planet who cared for them, but neither could imagine giving up their love of the water, or each other, and parting ways in search of whatever jobs the land held. That was what made it so easy for Maxi to convince his best friend that what they needed was a job that kept them in the water._

_ They had tried, honestly tried, to live the merchant life of Maxi's father, but making honest money was a lot harder than either had fully realized. Sure, they had helped the old man out, but he had always taken care of the business end of things and had the boys mainly moving good and lifting or repairing things. It was new for both of them to have to work out contracts and make contacts. They were both confident they'd get the hang of it and everything would turn out alright._

_ It was unclear whether it was a blessing or a curse, but Maxi found himself very able to persuade people to do almost anything if he talked at them long enough. Meager deals got larger and their clientele grew in numbers. The pair were able to fill more and more orders for more and more people and things seemed to be looking up for them. Maxi was the talker and Kyam was there to make sure his brother didn't get carried away and to keep him from getting too restless at having to do the 'boring stuff', as Maxi often called it. Unfortunately, all good things end and even a small fish runs the risk of attracting a shark, especially once the fish begins to fatten and grow._

_ It was storming out the night the men in fancy suits showed up to have a talk with the young men who had been struggling for years to make a name for themselves. It was on that night that they learned it was far better to be nameless and struggling, as Maxi's father had been. Even though the pair knew how to defend themselves, they could only take out so many before one of the men pulled out a gun. It was the fear of watching Kyam get murdered and being alone that convinced Maxi to stop more than the gun itself or any worry for his own life._

_ The two were congratulated on their growing business and told that they were doing well. They were then told that they would no longer be self employed. The Boss, they had only ever referred to him as The Boss and it had been years before Maxi had a face to go with the title and even longer before he had a real name to go with the face, had taken notice of their little operation and needed men like them. Reliable, good at their job men. Get certain items shipped from one place to the other and get paid. Any complications to that arrangement and the men would be back and the would not be as kind during the second visit, Kyam and Maxi were assured of that._

_ After that night, no one else would deal with either man. The Boss would give them jobs and they would have no option but to do it. The pay was good, more money than they had been making up until that point and the jobs themselves were usually fairly easy, but something didn't sit right with the two young men. Both knew that Maxi's father would not have approved. Neither man approved, really. Still, they had each other and they had themselves and they had their ship and the sea. As long as they had that, they could endure that life._

The stage-pirate heaved a sigh almost as heavy as his heart felt as he sat on the floor and held his head in his hands. He knew where this train of thought was going, it was somewhere his mind used to take him almost every day. Maxi didn't hide from things, but those thoughts and memories and feelings always left him depressed. Depression made it hard for him to do his job and his job was the only thing he could do. For Kyam, he had to stay strong and do as he was told. With Kilik nowhere around and nothing to do but wait for a phone call, Maxi allowed himself a brief reprieve from being strong. A slight tremor ran through his body as his mind dragged the Japanese further along memory lane.

_The second hard lesson for the men, now years older and no less friends and brothers than they had been as children, came on a clear night. The weather was mild and it was, Maxi had decided, the perfect night for a few drinks to celebrate. Kyam had known better than to ask what they were celebrating, already knowing he would get answer along the lines of, "We're still alive. We're healthy. That's reason enough!" It was Maxi's usual excuse whenever he wanted to get wasted. Despite being the more somber of the two, Kyam could not argue with that logic._

If the large man had been able to, he might have seen the irony in that fact. Maxi was pretty sure he saw it enough for the both of them. He tried to rub away the headache growing in his skull as the memory progressed. It was a vain attempt.

_Both men were thoroughly plastered by the time they stumbled back to the ship. If either of them had wanted to, they could have found somewhere to stay on land, but it was hard to sleep without nature rocking them back and forth. Hell, even the stormy nights on the ship were preferable to being stuck in some hotel or, worse, an apartment as far as Maxi saw it. Ships could sail and, even though he knew it would be a useless act, he and Kyam could run if they wanted to. Being stuck with leases and immobile housing on land didn't sound as appealing. It didn't have the same feeling of freedom- it was a fake feeling, but even that was better to Maxi than nothing at all. He could only assume Kyam felt the same way. The man had never spent a night far from his brother. It might have been that that ship and each other were all either man really had._

_ That knowledge was more comforting to the pirate than depressing and it had been what had fueled him so greatly when __He__ had shown up. It wasn't the men in suits again, both Kyam and Maxi were good at their job and wouldn't put the other in danger by compromising that. It was a single man. One hired by The Boss' enemies to kill off the competition in a way that would dissuade anyone else from taking their places, most likely. From what Maxi had heard, there were more than a few other shippers who had been murdered already. Neither he nor Kyam were going down without a fight, no matter what the rumors said._

_ By the time everything was over and He was gone, Maxi was in rough shape. Cuts and bruises and he was sure he'd have a few new scars from that... he wasn't sure what the hell it was. Maxi had always assumed that hit men used guns, like, always. This guy, though... he was some kind of monster. Huge. Able to take on the two other men, both of whom could handle themselves pretty damn well, and almost win. The sun was coming up when the giant of a hit-man left. Maxi didn't doubt he could have kept going without any problem and probably beat the two men to death, but instead he left. No words. Nothing. Whatever had just happened, he knew that he was in a shit-load of pain and that Kyam was doing far, far worse._

_ It had taken more than Maxi thought he had to get his friend and himself to a hospital. He didn't even remember making it all the way there. He remembered having to carry Kyam's large form on his back and struggling to get them down the street... he must have passed out and been picked up. There were things from that night that still made no sense to the pirate._

_ He had awoken in a hospital bed. It was the first time he had seen The Boss in person, but there was something about the other man that made the pirate sure of who he was talking to without being told. Most other men would have been terrified at such a meeting, but all Maxi could think about was whether or not Kyam was alright. Something about that had been amusing to The Boss, who oh-so graciously overlooked Maxi's rudeness. Kyam was stable. He was not awake, and whether or not he would ever wake up was questionable. Still, he was alive. The Boss had told him that and Maxi believed it. He had to. The young man couldn't face the alternative- the possibility of Kyam's death._

_ It was then that The Boss expressed how impressed he had been at Maxi and how proud he was of the head of the Japanese branch of his organization for finding such a worthy young man for the job __he had in mind. At first, Maxi hadn't understood what the hell The Boss was talking. It must have shown on his features, because the old man explained with a grin that the he had been the one to call on the hit-man to attack the duo on the ship. The giant guy, Asteroth, had been given that night to kill both Kyam and Maxi. If he succeeded, he would be paid in full. If he failed, he would only receive half __payment. Obviously, since Maxi was alive to hear the tale, the hit-man had failed._

_ Even as hurt as he was, Maxi tried to get out of the bed and attack The Boss. There was a part of him that knew that such a move was basically suicide, as The Boss never traveled without protection, but he didn't care. His brother was in a coma and he was in pain because some stuck-up asshole had thought it would be fun to __test__ them! Consequences be damned!_

_ The attack was futile. Maxi could not get himself up and, even if he had, he wouldn't have been able to kill the old bastard. Infuriatingly, the old man wasn't even upset at the attempt or the anger. He had been amused- fucking amused!- at Maxi and simply said that this was proof of how perfect the young man would be for the job. So passionate and full of life. The Boss said that he was willing to bet that Maxi would do just about anything for his revenge at that moment, and Maxi couldn't say he disagreed with that._

_ "I'll even wager," The Boss continued, his Japanese sounding very odd with his thick accent, one that Maxi hadn't been able to place at the time, "That the only thing that would keep you from wasting your life trying to kill me, or Asteroth, or perhaps us both would be the well-fare of your friend, yes?"_

_ Again, The Boss had been right. At the mention of his friend, the implication that something might happen to Kyam if he sought revenge, Maxi stilled his attempts. It was then that the pirate was given a new job. Complete the job and The Boss would pay Kyam's hospital bills for as long as it took the other man to get better- if he never awoke from his coma, The Boss would never stop paying for him. As an added incentive, if Maxi failed, The Boss would make sure Asteroth came back and murdered Kyam. He might even be sent after Maxi, depending on The Boss' mood. Without questioning what this mystery job was, the hot-headed Japanese man accepted._

_ "There is a young man," The Boss explained, looking out the window at the city, "Younger than you. He is searching for something- do not worry yourself with the details about what. Your job is to seek this young man out. Befriend him. Protect him whenever you have to. When the time is right, I will find you and I will take this man off of your hands." The Boss turned back to the pirate with a grin that even a devil would envy, "That is your job. Keep this man healthy and have him readily available for me to take when I am ready for him. I do not care how you do it."_

_ Maxi hadn't seen Kyam since before the hospital, but he knew that he would be reunited with the other man as soon as his job was done. It was what he had to keep telling himself to keep going._

A tear fell from the ex-pirate's eye. Then another. And another. He was shaking slightly at the thought of what lead him to his current place in life. His only family might not have been alive anymore. He had never had proof that Kyam was really in a hospital bed somewhere, but he couldn't bring himself to think of what it would mean if his brother was dead. Kyam was the closest thing he had to a family.

"Aside from Kilik," he whispered to himself with a bitter chuckle.

He had to ask himself whether or not it was worth it to give up someone he had actually started to care for in order to see his brother, who was probably still in a coma if not dead. It was a question he asked himself a lot whenever the Chinese man wasn't around. In the beginning, he had been sure that he would be able to babysit some brat until The Boss took him away, then he could return to Kyam's side and wait for him to wake up, then the two could go back to sailing or make some legitimate money or something. Whatever the Hell they felt like doing would be fine with Maxi. He hadn't expected the kid to remind him of his brother or to be so... he wasn't like the snot-nosed kids Maxi usually encountered when dealing with that age group.

Kilik had been so serious when Maxi had first met him and more polite than the Japanese man had really known how to handle. He was also alone and the pirate wasn't sure whether or not the kid had come from another planet or just some backwater village from China with how little he knew about pretty much everything. A weird kid, alright, but one that Maxi didn't mind having to babysit- especially not with how grateful Kilik seemed for every little thing Maxi did for him, even the really small shit. It was more like babysitting some kind of lost puppy than a brat. The pirate tried his best to act like he was the kind stranger the kid thought him to be. He tried his best to act like the goofy, stupid, and sometimes- most times- irresponsible and carefree guy he had been with Kyam. Part of him wanted to believe that he was still that man and not some bastard who would one day have to deliver Kilik to The Boss and then move on with life like it was nothing. Like there wouldn't be betrayal in those chocolate eyes.

Briefly, the thought of just telling Kilik about the people after him and convincing him to leave, go off the grid and live off the sea or something else irresponsible and unrealistic, crossed Maxi's mind. It wasn't the first time he had thought about something like that. The thought of Kyam having no one to wake up to stayed his hand. The Chinese kid might have felt like family to Maxi, but that didn't mean he replaced the family that Maxi already had. Still, it was nice to day-dream about, from time to time. When things got too heavy, the pirate often fantasized about freedom. Sometimes, both Kyam and Kilik would be there. Those were always the best dreams.

Maxi picked himself up off the floor and flopped himself down on the couch, still waiting for a call back and with nothing better to do. Once again, his eyes unfocused and he found himself thinking, this time of the future instead of the past. A happy future with the two men he considered family on his father's ship, sailing over the waves without much to care about other than a dwindling supply of rum that would have to be restocked at the next port.


	26. The Watching Opportunist Pt 1

A/N: VERY IMPORTANT NOTE! This chapter may seem short, but that's because I can only post half of it on . The other half can be found on Adult Fan Fiction ( just look for the one called Destiny Intertwined: The Other Halves. ^.^;; ). I made sure not to put anything too plot-heavy in the part that I can't post here in case anyone didn't feel like checking the other half our or if there's anyone who isn't comfortable reading that kind of thing. (I know I wasn't exactly comfortable writing it. )

To the lovely 1wngdngl: You're welcome! 's true, there are a lot of people who have vested interest in what's going on. I really wanna be like, "Here! Have all the answers! O.O" ...but that would spoil the story, and that would be sad. I will say this, you'll know everything there is to know by the end of it. xD

To the lovely ThalieXVII: Thank you. I'm glad you like it. I really do like Maxi and I have a lot of feels for him. Hopefully, seeing things from his side will help make some of what he does from this point on make sense, yeah? XD

To the lovely WildMomo24: My inbox. You've raped my inbox. I love it. 1. Siegfried loves eating ancestors. Yummy, yummy ancestors. 2. He's not a brat. .;; 3. Glad you like it because that is the best description of colors I've got and it'll appear over and over again. Also, yeah... oh the romance novel descriptions and racism. :P 4. We don't speak of the night Maxi got Kilik drunk. Well... actually, we will later. Because Maxi is made of adorable. I would ship Maxi/Kilik more if Siegfried/Kilik wasn't better. .

To all the other lovelies reading this with patience for my note-leaving and wordiness: Thank you for sticking with me this long! As always, please enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

The Watching Opportunist Pt. 1

It only felt like a minute or so had passed between laying himself, and his feverish guest, down and promptly passing out with the smaller man on top of him like some kind of heated blanket that smelt like calming; as though that made any sense. The brief moment of sleep had been restful in a way sleep hadn't been since his father's death, save for the one night he had spent at the IT guy's house. The smaller man had been a human blanket for him that night as well and it would have made a convincing argument for Siegfried to try to keep him around more often if the German had been awake enough to think about it. Unfortunately, the sleepy, restful moment didn't last as long as Siegfried had wanted it to, interrupted by a sudden ringing that, though muffled by the distance the sound had to travel through the large house to reach anyone's ears, was loud enough to shatter the peaceful quiet and wake the blonde haired, blue eyed man, who gave an angry growl in response. Even in his newly-awoken state, Siegfried could tell that it was a phone ringer; one that hadn't been his, which left the only possible explanation being that it had to be Kilik's. He had been having a great dream... he couldn't remember exactly what had been happening, but it wasn't a nightmare, so it must have been great, dammit!

The preferable course of action would have been to ignore the phone and go back to sleep, but either his growl or the ringing that had caused said growl caused his living blanket to stir. The Asian gave a quiet groan as he rolled off Siegfried, and the bed, to a standing position that should have been far too graceful for a half-conscious and probably still-sick human being. Almost immediately after Kilik left the bed, Siegfried's hand shot out from the comforter the two had shared and grabbed Kilik's wrist. Pulling the smaller man back under the covers took almost no effort and forced a surprised sound from the Asian, which brought an amused snort from the German.

"You're not getting up." Siegfried's voice held the kind of authority his father's voice used to hold whenever he wanted his rebellious son to either not do something or, at the very least, realize that there would be punishment for doing it. While the voice rarely ever got Siegfried to second-guess whatever he felt like doing at the time, he was hoping it would be effective on the IT guy.

To Kilik's credit, or maybe he was just half awake, he stayed on the bed when Siegfried slid out from under him. Siegfried's last glance back at his guest showed brown eyes already closed and a chest moving evenly up and down. Tight lips pulled into a smirk as the blonde strode out of the room, satisfied that he wouldn't have to worry about Kilik doing anything, like make his fever worse or do whatever the hell he thought would purge the demon he seemed to believe was plaguing Siegfried. It was still a ridiculous notion, but he would humor it because he had given his word that he would. Siegfried could only hope that it didn't involve him having to do anything too weird, like some kind of ancient Chinese yoga or something. Or maybe something out of The Exorcist. The thought of Kilik and Maxi playing the parts of the old and young priests was more amusing to Siegfried than he was willing to give it credit for.

Even though it hadn't felt like he had been asleep for too long, the light that streamed in through the windows throughout the house told him that it must have been hours; it had to be late afternoon at the earliest. Siegfried's plan was to get the phone that had woken him up and silence it so he could sleep for the rest of the day, or at least a few more hours. He wasn't usually one to waste an entire day doing nothing but sleeping, unless the black-outs counted, but he had been exhausted and it wasn't like he had to be at work until the next day, so Siegfried decided wasting the day would be fine for once. The only thing standing between him and that goal was the ringing phone that he intended to either silence or throw out a window. Kilik would probably get upset about that. Siegfreid found himself to be not very intimidated by the thought. It wasn't like the vegetarian could really hurt him and the thought of his tired, fevered ass even trying brought another amused snort from the German.

A glance at his phone, left on the kitchen counter some time ago and practically forgotten, showed no blinking light to indicate that anyone had tried to contact him. It was just as well, anyone in the city would have probably been calling about work things- it would have been Tira or Raphael, if he had managed to get the number somehow, and Siegfried wasn't eager to talk to either of them at the moment. It it was anyone he had left behind after his father's death, they probably wouldn't have wanted anything important. The only person even remotely noteworthy that he had left was a woman, but she had been the one to break things off with him and he was in no mood to deal with any shit from her. He had enough to deal with- the open wound to his emotions from his father's death that he had to ignore, a business to run, annoying Frenchmen to not murder, the blackouts that he had to do something about, the Asian man in his bed... warm, peaceful, comfortable, and waiting... A shake of his head and Siegfried was back on the task at hand: making sure that damn phone didn't disturb him again.

Fishing the device out of the pocket that had somehow escaped the same fate the rest of Kilik's tattered pants had suffered revealed that the phone had managed to avoid getting too wet to work in the rain or too damaged to be used during whatever Kilik had done that night and, impressively, during the Asian's attacks on himself. Siegfried had the feeling that, had it been his phone, the thing would have been little more than an expensive paperweight after going through that kind of treatment. Then again, he didn't have the best of luck with technology. It didn't really matter much to the German whether or not he was tech-savvy or any kind of lucky or good with those things. Siegfried had been more interested in the past than keeping up with the most up to date computers and gizmos, preferring instead to look into things like old ways of brewing beer. It really was quite interesting and something he had planned to utilize in the rest of his life until that plan had been interrupted.

A blinking green light told Siegfried about the missed call that he already knew about- the ringing had been hint enough- which sent a strange urge to check what message the caller might have left said. After all, it could have been important. The more practical side of Siegfried's psyche snorted at the thought of him being able to listen to his employee's voice-mail without having things, like the password to get into the voice mail. Not that he would listen even if he did have the right password. Luckily for Siegfried, the device didn't need to be unlocked to be put on silent, which he gladly did on his way back upstairs for more sleep.

Not entirely unexpectedly, but mildly annoying nonetheless, the tired German found his guest very much not still asleep on the bed before he even got back to his room. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Siegfried was greeted by a half-awake Asian man leaning on the frame of his bedroom door, the light from the windows that kept the house from being completely pitch black contrasting the darkness of the room beyond while still softly illuminating the other man, who was seemingly attempting to walk despite his current state. It was difficult for Siegfried to be too upset at the sight of the smaller man. Kilik's lips were parted slightly as he drew breath, his eyes were half closed and not as focused as Siegfried was used to seeing. The borrowed shirt was awkwardly hanging off a frame that was obviously too small for the garment, the neck of the cotton hanging, lopsided, off of one of Kilik's shoulders while the pants hung loosely farther down the Asian's hips than they should have been. It all aided the flushed quality of his skin in making the IT guy seem vulnerable in a way the owner of the house found more attractive than he probably should have.

Slowly, as though even that took more effort than is should have, chocolate brown eyes raised to meet the baby blue orbs that were fixated on him. Kilik's voice was quiet as he breathed out, "Siegfried..."

Had the larger man been slower, Kilik's body would have hit the ground as he passed out for the second time. As it was, Siegfried had been able to pocket the phone and catch his tech support guy. He then found himself, for the third time, carrying his house-guest back to bed. It was apparent from the heat rolling off the limp body in Siegfried's arms that Kilik's fever had managed to get worse while the blonde was gone, which was mildly disturbing when he considered how he hadn't been gone for very long. Getting up while being so sick was idiotic. He shook his head slightly at the way the other man kept stubbornly trying to get up as he laid Kilik back down on his bed. As tempted as he was to join his guest and get more sleep, the blonde realized that there was something he should do before that could happen. With an attempted sigh that came out as more of a yawn, the German took the phone out of his pocket and laid it- face down to keep the rhythmic blinking of the green notification light from disturbing the pitch of his room and being irritating whenever he finally got to sleep again- on his small bedside table to keep from forgetting it in his pocket.

Siegfried straightened himself and walked back out of the room and into the bathroom next door. Opening the medicine cabinet revealed the exact bottle he had been hoping to see, along with a few others he didn't care one way or the other about. After retrieving two pills from the small white bottle and seizing a small measuring cup off of some cough-syrup for water, the young businessman returned to the man sleeping on his bed. He wasn't a doctor and he didn't get sick often, but that didn't mean he didn't know what would help break a fever.

Waking Kilik up enough for him to take the pills had been slightly harder than Siegfried expected, though he wasn't sure that he really should have expected different. He had to set the measuring cup of water down on a small table that occupied the space next to his bed so he could get an arm under the Asian to lift him into a sitting position; Kilik's limp form ended up sitting up from the support of Siegfried's arm and slumped slightly over to rest against the German's broad chest. Ignoring the way Kilik warmed the fabric of his shirt with every exhale, Siegfried tried giving his guest a gentle shake. It didn't wake him up.

"Kilik," the first attempt was quiet and meant to be soothing. It had no effect. The second try was a little louder, "Kilik." It, too, did nothing to rouse the sleeping man. Not feeling like spending forever trying to get the brunette awake enough to take a couple pills, Siegfried's third attempt was slightly louder than his usual speaking voice and held a slight edge of threat, as though that would somehow intimidate the other into waking up, "Kilik!"

Brown eyes attempted to open, only coming to half mast, accompanied by a mumbled, "Wha...?"

Satisfied that his guest was awake enough, Siegfried pushed the two pills into the other man's mouth before reaching over for the small measuring cup. "Take these. They'll help." He brought the cup to the other man's lips, glad that Kilik didn't spit the pills out, and poured the water in as gently as he could when they parted. More obediently than Siegfried expected, Kilik swallowed the water and the pills before his eyes slid closed again.

Instead of bothering to put the cup back in the bathroom cabinet, Siegfried placed it back on the bedside table and snuggled himself back into bed. With how quickly his tech department had been passing out, the blonde wasn't too worried about waking the other man up. He was, however, worried about the amount of heat radiating from his sick guest. It was true that the pills would help with Kilik's temperature, but they would take half an hour or so- probably- to kick in, which left another half hour of overheated Asian. A small part in the back of Siegfried's mind that had been- almost unnervingly- quiet recently seemed to perk up as the German removed Kilik's borrowed shirt and tossed it carelessly off the bed.

As he passed out, Siegfried justified that he was just making it easier for Kilik to cool down. It had nothing to do with physical attraction to a man he really hadn't known for very long, and who seemed to be both a pain in the ass and oddly lick-able at the same time. Likeable. Lazily, the reawakening thing in Siegfried's mind almost seemed to- and the German wasn't sure how this was even possible for something in his head- smirk at the reasoning and the mistaken words. Had the businessman taken any longer to go to sleep, he would have noticed the almost teasing disbelief of the passenger in his mind.


	27. The Chinese Runt

A/N: I hope I didn't lose too many of you with the last chapter. This chapter doesn't have anything like that, so the whole thing is up here. XD

Thanks to the lovely ThalieXVII! It's so true! Kilik's fever is a lot easier to deal with than the demon thing, huh? xD

SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION because that's how I roll, if anyone has a Tumblr and feels like following my derpy blog, I'm A Rabid Zombie x3. :P

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

The Chinese Runt

A few hours- and almost an entire pack of cigarettes- later found the dandiest of pirates brooding on the couch in his apartment. If Kilik got upset over the smell of tobacco or the possibility of the smoke damaging his machines or whatever, he would just have to fucking deal! Smoking was something that Maxi only did when frustrated or very worried, which were two feelings he had in abundance. How he was supposed to watch the kid- and eventually and him over to The Boss- when Kilik was out wherever the Hell he was rode back-seat to the realization that the Japanese man was actually worried about the welfare of his room mate. He wasn't supposed to give too much of a shit about Kilik, just enough to convince the younger man that he totally cared and was totally trustworthy. That didn't change anything.

The sound of Maxi talking to himself about how he was going to kill his room mate if anything had happened to the man was broken by the sudden ringing of his phone and the dandy man practically pounced the piece of technology that had miraculously survived sailing through the air and into a wall hours prior. There was no mistaking the ring-tone he had assigned to the Chinese man, nor the name that popped up on the screen. Relief was an understatement.

The joy in Maxi's voice was genuine as he answered the call with, "You had better not be dead or anything! That would be a pain in the ass!"

Despite being carried over some distance that was too far for the pirate to really get, faster than the distance was far by a lot, from one phone to the other, the partially annoyed and very tired sigh was at once comforting and not at all to Maxi. He had known Kilik for years- the only people he had really _known_ for longer had been his father and Kyam- and he could tell by just that sound that something was wrong. His room mate was tired, probably sick as well; Kilik had a weaker immune system than he would admit to and almost never acted sick when he was, except when it was bad enough that Maxi had to force him to rest. He was already mentally preparing himself for drugging the younger man's coffee or tea or water or whatever with medicine to knock him out and force him to rest and get better. It was a blessing how freakishly quick and well those things brought Kilik down.

"The only pain in the ass for you would be getting my things out of the computer room and maybe using the extra space for your fish." The voice at the other end of the line gave a soft snort, clearly too... something- amused? Friendly?- to be biting.

Laughter spilled from the pirate's lips easily; it wasn't something he had to fake very often around the Chinese man, which wasn't a warning sign that he was getting too close to the kid until it was too late, "Nah, nah. I'd also have to find a room mate who wouldn't mind literally sharing a room with me and doesn't mind helping me out whenever I get locked out or stumble in drunk. Like I said, pain in the ass."

Another snort, but this one was more of a disguised laugh than anything remotely annoyed, it was as close as laughter as Kilik had allowed himself to get for the first few years and part of the dandy man's heart ached at how his friend regressed back into it, "Uh-huh. I'll be sure to apologize to you for the inconvenience when I die."

"Good. You'd better," Maxi ran a hand through his hair, unsure if he his next question was asked because of the job he had been sent out to do or because he was honestly concerned about the other man, maybe even a mixture of both, "Anyways, since you aren't dead, where the Hell are you? Do you need help or something? This isn't like that time I got you drunk, is it? Because that would be hilarious!"

The stage-pirate could practically hear his room mate- his ward or his job?- shake his head from the sound of his voice as he answered, "We agreed to never discuss _that_ time again. I'm fine, just... well..." There was a pause and Maxi had the feeling it had to do with things the younger man didn't know Maxi knew about. It was probably just as well. "I'm at Siegfried's house right now."

The Japanese man let out a low whistle, "You dog!"

"Shut up." Maxi could imagine the roll of those brown eyes, serious with just a bit of good humor sneaking in, in spite of the owner of the chocolate orbs, "I got sick and he's been taking care of me. I don't know if he'll let me go to work with him tomorrow or if he'll make me stay home, but I don't-"

"I can come get you now! You know, so you don't have to ask him for a ride home," it sounded almost desperate, even to Maxi. He didn't know why it bothered him to hear that Kilik, the Chinese runt who spent years- years!- not letting Maxi take care of him when he was sick and vulnerable, let his boss- a man he hadn't even known for a month- not only see him like that, but take care of him to boot! He shouldn't have taken it personally. In a way, Siegfried had something to do with the job Kilik had been sent out to do, the same way Kilik was a job to Maxi. Besides, he wasn't supposed to view the other man as a friend or part of his very small family. It was another fact that changed nothing. In an attempt to hide any bit of jealousy he might have felt for the blonde- epic drinking partner or not- Maxi added on, "I haven't had anyone to talk to all day and I am so bored!"

This time, the small laugh wasn't covered by a scoff, but it did end in coughs. Even if him being with his boss had nothing to do with the sword thing everyone was so damn interested in, he really was sick. At least he was getting help, as much as it bugged Maxi to admit that. Wanting to be the one to help his friend didn't mean he couldn't be glad _someone_ was helping his substitute brother. At least Kilik wasn't allowed to do anything to make it worse, probably. From what he got form Siegfried that time they drank together, the chance was a tad more than probably.

Kilik said quietly, "I appreciate it, Maxi, but I'd rather be here until he kicks me out. If you need anything, call. I'll try to answer next time."

"Yeah, yeah. No problem! I'll see you... when I see you, I guess!" Anther laugh, this one a little more forced than the previous joyous sound, "If you need a ride or anything let me know. Remember to eat your veggies and get plenty of rest. And tell your boss I demand a drinking rematch! Hanging out with him was damn fun!"

The brunette laughed quietly, "Sure." The line went dead after he hung up.

There was a brief pause, his phone automatically hanging up on the dropped call, while Maxi just sat on the couch and contemplated throwing his phone again. He lowered his hand instead. At least Kilik wasn't really dead or anything. There was still a chance of being reunited with Kyam and not having to work for The Boss ever again. Hell, if the Chinese runt had died, Maxi figured, Taki probably would have just killed him for failing at his job, which might not have been so bad since it would have meant horrible things happening to Kyam and Maxi wasn't sure how well he would do living in a world with the knowledge that he got his brother killed. Sitting around wouldn't fix anything. Sitting around never really fixed much of anything.

Maxi sprung from the couch with the intent to actually leave the house instead of almost leaving the house and ending up pitying himself on the floor again. He retrieved his keys from where they had fallen after their meeting with the wall and strode to the front door. The pirate was a man of many things, but moping wasn't one of them. At least, it was something he tried very hard not to do- which was difficult without Kyam there to call him out on it or Kilik there to distract him. Without any real destination in mind, the pirate threw open the door and... blinked dumbly at what was on the other side.

"Woah... how did you know I was here?" Maxi was greeted by a kid, Chinese by the look of him and shorter than Kilik with surprised auburn eyes and short, rusty brown hair. The kid looked as out of place and disheveled as the pirate's room mate back when they first met.

With his usual grin in place, Maxi gave a small shrug, "I'm psychic."

"Really?!" There was a moment when the kid's face split into a huge grin and his eyes practically sparkled before realization dawned and he frowned, crossing his arms, "Waaaaaait... you're lying, aren't you?"

The pirate honestly threw his head back and laughed. This was not expected, but it was really brightening his mood. "I prefer to think of it as 'joking'." With a shake of his head and an amused grin, he asked, "Well, what's a runt like you doing at my door today?"

The kid's face scrunched up like he had just eaten something sour, "I'm not a runt!" His arms unfolded and he put his hands on his hips as he glared up at the black-haired man, "I'm eight-teen! And I'm looking for my-" He cut himself off, as though not really sure what word to use to finish. With a frustrated sound low in his throat, the kid shook his head again and said, "I'm looking for a guy named Kilik, alright?!"

"Hmmm..." Maxi pretended to have to think about it. If this kid worked for The Boss, he would have been more direct; it was unlikely that The Boss would have sent someone so young anyways. He was probably from the place Kilik had come from. "Yeah, I've heard of him. What do you want with that guy? He's more into blondes, you know."

"What?" Had it been Kilik, only the look of confusion in his eyes would have given what he was feeling away, but puzzlement was written clearly on this kid's face. "Blondes?" He ran a hand through his hair, a familiar action reminiscent of the pirate's room mate, "Listen, he's kind of my brother and I need to find him. I don't have time for this!"

Maxi ruffled the kid's hair- and consequently had his hand batted away- as he said, "Awe, why didn't you say you were his baby brother?" He could sympathize with that. More than anything, he could sympathize with some kid trying to find someone who was family to him. He held his hand out, treating the kid like a young man for the first time, "I'm Maxi, Kilik's room mate. Nice to meet you."

For a moment, the only response was a suspicious stare, but the kid eventually took the older man's hand. His handshake wasn't especially firm, but it wasn't exactly soft, either. His hands felt about as calloused as Kilik's had when they first met- the kid had worked with his hands a lot. "I'm Xiba. Can you tell me where he is now?"

"I could," Maxi took his hand back and crossed his arms, looking thoughtful and considering again, "But he's kind of busy over there at the moment. Tell you what, I was about to go get something to eat, how about you come with me and after I'll tell you where your brother is, alright?" Normally, he wouldn't ask strange Chinese kids to eat with him, but he had the feeling he could find out more about his room mate through this kid than through questioning the source.

Uncertainty flashed across those bright eyes and along his slightly rounded face before a low growl from the kid's stomach seemed to make the decision for him. Any air of being unsure vanished with the kind of easy smile that Maxi would have had himself at that age, "If you're paying, sure!" One of the kid's hands scratched the back of his neck nervously and he looked embarrassed when he admitted, "I mean... I don't really have a lot of money..."

Matching the kid's smile with one of his own, Maxi shrugged, "Sure, whatever. Its not the first time I've had to feed some backwater Chinese runt."

Ignoring the kid's protest at being called a runt again, Maxi stepped out of his apartment and locked the door behind him before sauntering out to his car with a careless motion back at Xiba to follow him. The thought of having to cart another stray around wasn't exactly thrilling, but he couldn't think of a single thing the runt could to that would mess up or dirty his car. Besides, company and the chance to learn more about his room mate were well worth it and the kid himself seemed entertaining enough. It was too bad he was so young, though. Another drinking buddy would always be appreciated by the dandy. Not that he was an alcoholic or anything. If he kept telling himself that, he figured, he might some day believe it.

The look on Xiba's face clearly said he wasn't exactly sure about the rust-bucket Maxi drove, but he got in anyways and was more than happy when the car started and the radio turned on. For once, the Japanese man wasn't too upset about his station being changed as Xiba flipped through different channels and sampled little bits of everything before settling on one. Too bad it was one of the shitty stations that played about seven different club songs- all more autotuned noise than actual music or talent as far as Maxi was concerned- on loop until another set of seven came out to replace it. There were some battles where no compromises could be reached and music was one such arena. Much to the kid's dismay, the station was changed back to something much better: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. It wasn't a surprise to anyone with any taste in music why Maxi favored the station he did.

As if to try and cover the song with conversation, the kid suddenly asked, "Where are we going, anyways?"

"To get food." Stormy eyes left the road long enough to glance at the runt before returning to the task of driving, "There's a place I usually go to with your brother that's not too far from home. Open twenty-four hours and they don't get too pissy when you show up drunk off your ass. Hell," He laughed, recalling the many times he had shown up there in such a state, "I think they encourage it. Better tips and more amusing clientele. Well, more amusing when they're the fun drunks and not assholes, of course."

"Of course," Xiba repeated, though Maxi doubted he really knew from experience.

Hell, the pirate was willing there were a lot of references that the kid wouldn't get at all. He looked like something out of an old kung-fu movie for crying out loud! Like some kind of mini-past-Kilik or something. Luckily, instead of being left to discover things for his own, Xiba had Maxi around to try and help him be less of a freak and more normal. Sure, there were probably people out there who wouldn't think of the extroverted and maybe less than mature acting pirate as a good role model or introduction into normal, functioning society, but those people just didn't understand greatness and wouldn't know fun if it bit them in the ass. Those people didn't matter... except Kyam and Kilik, who may or may not have been counted among those people.

Wide eyes watched everything blur by the car's window as though he had never seen a proper city before. The runt's voice held obvious wonder and just a hint of breathlessness when he asked, "Is it always busy like this?"

Another stormy glance from road to the world they were passing by and back to the road, "What?" Sure, there were other cars around and a few people who probably had no ulterior mode of transportation walking along the sidewalks and through crosswalks with various things from backpacks to grocery bags, but there was normal. There were businessmen carrying on and joggers and kids on skateboards or bikes or whatever the hell was popular these days, as per usual. Maxi snorted, "Wow, you guys really are from some back-water village, huh?"

How the kid bristled reminded Maxi, again, of a stray. Maybe a cat or monkey or something. "Yeah, so?" He crossed his arms, huffed, and muttered something in Chinese that the Japanese man couldn't really catch and didn't really care to know. It was probably something insulting.

The rest of the drive was unremarkable. Xiba- who clearly wasn't the kind to stay angry or sulky or very long before moving on as though nothing had wronged him ever- asked what a few things were on the way and Maxi explained as best he could. It felt kind of like being a tour guide, but working with kids and answering questions was something Maxi had gotten used to over the years at the theme park where he worked. He didn't even feel annoyed when he had to explain what the Hell a theme park was, when they made their way to that subject. More than anything, it was kind of amusing.

Parking at the dinner was a little less open than the black haired man had expected, but it was still a far cry from a full lot. He found a space, a little farther from the door than the ones he usually occupied after last-call at the bars, and casually walked into the joint. Xiba walked with him, still looking at things with the kind of wide-eyes wonderment that only came with a level of sheltering from the world that Maxi was really confused- and a little creeped out- by. He wasn't sure how anyone could have gone for so long without knowing what an iPad was, but he had to suppose it just came with growing up in the middle of fuck-knows-where China. By the time the pair had found a booth, Xiba looked like he was about to burst. If he grinned any wider, Maxi thought, he'd look like the fucking Joker. Though, the thought of the kid in grease paint was pretty damn funny.

A mixture of so many choices and not really knowing what anything was or having much of a frame of reference for what things would taste like left Xiba staring at the menu with a mixture of puzzlement and excitement. He was actually bouncing in his seat like a little kid. Maxi smirked into his own menu, before he finally had to aks, "Need help, runt?"

"I'm not a runt," Xiba scowled back briefly before grinning at the menu again, "And I don't need help, but... uhm..." He looke a little lost, "What's good? Back at the Temple, we usually have rice... I don't know what the hell a lot of this stuff is."

"Temple, huh?" Maxi murmured before looking up at the kid across from him with his usual grin, "Its your first time here, right?" He was given a nod in response, and continued with, "Then get a burger. Trust me, you'll never go wrong with one of those." A though passed through his mind, and the pirate added, "Unless you're a vegetarian like your brother."

Barely after the words were said, a look passed across the kid's face like the one when he first said he was looking for Kilik. "I'm nothing like my brother." There was something in his voice- some small bit of anger or sadness or some kind of pain that was stubbornly trying to be hidden, but years of dealing with Kilik trying to cover his emotions left Maxi an expert at finding those hidden little tones.

Not wanting to deal with that kind of shit, not to mention an expert at lightening the mood, Maxi responded with a shrug and a grin, "Whatever. Just trust me, if you don't mind eating your ancestors or whatever the hell you back-water runts believe, get a bacon cheeseburger. You won't regret it." Pretending not to notice the offended look on Xiba's face, Maxi murmured to himself, "Actually... that sounds fucking amazing right now..."

Whatever the kid would have offered up in response was put on hold as the waiter came by to get their orders. Xiba ended up just saying, "Same," with an easy confidence that would have hidden his excitement if he wasn't still lightly bouncing in his seat and grinning like an idiot. Surprising was an understatement for the realization that this was supposed to be the younger brother of Maxi's room mate. Then again, maybe being hyper and excitable was just part of being a younger brother. If so, Kilik was a horrible younger brother to Maxi- in turn, Maxi was a damn good younger brother to Kyam, despite the fact that Kyam was the younger of the two by a few months. In a way, that made Kilik the third brother, so maybe he was supposed to be quiet and have all the emotional expressions of a rock. The thought of a rock with Kilik's hair sitting in front of a computer was impossible to not think about and brought a grin to Maxi's face that nearly matched Xiba's in size.

Probably assuming the look was somehow mocking him, which wasn't too far off the mark, Xiba's face scrunched up and he glared across the table at the older man, "What?!"

Maxi offered up a noncommittal shrug and leaned forward, resting his head on his hand while the waiter dropped off two sodas in front of them. Giving the already active runt caffeine might not have been the most responsible plan but it promised to be entertaining, at least. "Nothing, noting. Just thinking about family stuff."

"Family?" Xiba frowned slightly, probably trying to figure out where that had come from or what the hell was so funny about family.

"Family," the pirate repeated as though that explained everything while knowing that it really really didn't explain much of anything at all.

Xiba didn't press the conversation any more than Maxi did and, instead, started asking the pirate about different things he noticed in the place that he didn't quite understand. Most of it was more about what people were doing- almost always followed with questioning why- than questions about cars or phones or, really, anything technical. It was surprising given that Kilik was nearly the opposite, wondering what everything around them was instead of who everyone was. Then again, the two didn't exactly look very alike other than their size, and familiar clothing. Maxi had a sneaking suspicion that they were about as related as he and Kyam were. Well, maybe not that close given Xiba's reaction to being compared to his brother, but something similar at the very least.

The questioning didn't stop until their food arrived. It was then that any bit of conversation from the kid was replaced by the ravenous scarfing down of food that only a teenage male can really accomplish. Suffice to say, he enjoyed the burger, and the fries, and the soda. The two of them earned more than a few stares from the other guests and a few rolled eyes from the staff members that recognized the dandy pirate from the times he had stumbled in- drunk, hungover, or sometimes sober- with their voracious eating habits and manors that could have made a rabid animal blush.


	28. The LaidOut Paths

A/N: For the record, I only hurt the ones I love. Poor Kilik. :P

To the lovely 1wngdngl: I have to admit now that I know the SCV kids as well as I probably should 'cause I only got to play the game for the week a friend let me borrow it, so I won't go crazy with throwing them in... I just love Xiba. Maxi loves family. Too bad it doesn't always work out for him. I wanted to be as close to his backstory in the game as I could within the realms of the universe this fic is in. ^.^;; As for Kilik... yeah. He does need distractions. xD

To the lovely ThalieXVII: I'm really happy you love description, because there's a lot of it this chapter. I was hoping to make Maxi likeable. I heard one time that it's impossible to hate someone once you know their story, so I try to show a bit of "this is why they're doing this." Also, I'm glad you like Xiba. It's nice to write a character that isn't a jerk or cynical. :D

To all you lovelies reading this fic, I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or the characters therein.

The Laid-Out Paths

The darkened room gave no hints about what time it could have been and Kilik's hazy mind was making it very difficult to guess how long he had been out. Still, his thoughts were a lot less clouded than it had been the last two times he had been awake, if that was even an appropriate word for what he had been. He had gotten up and moved, sure, but it was like moving through a dream-scape where nothing felt solid or real until Siegfried had returned and taken him back to bed. Only vaguely could he remember being given medicine and, he wasn't sure how much longer after that, being kissed. That moment, in and of itself, was one that Kilik didn't want to address or analyze, but he knew that he had to. That kind of thing... it wasn't him. He also highly doubted that he holy blade- the one that had no problem using his body to rip Soul Edge's taint out of and murder so many people- would approve of... contact. That left only one possibility.

Having a lingering splotch of darkness in his soul wasn't as worrisome to the monk as it really should have been. Yes, it was evil. Yes, having it was wrong. Yes, purifying it would appease the part of him that held Soul Calibur's taint- was that even the right word for something that was supposed to be holy? Kilik didn't know any more than he had when he was a child- but removing the darkness would put him one step closer to the fate he had dreaded for most of his life. Memories of Zhang He held him back from giving up the evil that stained that his soul and would, hopefully, prevent Soul Calibur from taking his body when his that of his teacher finally gave out. The two combating forces inside of him were no doubt the cause behind his assault against himself the previous day- days? Time was difficult to track, things were blurry when he tried to recall them. He had gotten Siegfried's word that the blonde would allow him to attempt to exorcize the demon, but how long ago had that been? He groaned as the effort to recall produced little more than pain between his eyes.

Pain wasn't something Kilik was fond of, but it did help push the fogginess away and, for that, he was grateful. Losing the clarity of his thoughts to any outside influence was something that the monk feared above almost all else. If it took a little pain to keep himself from getting lost in a comfortable haze brought about by anything- medication, the spiritual blades, anything- it was well worth it. The throbbing in his head persisted as he sat up, his body adding its own aches and pains and pushing the comfort of sleep away further. It would have been nice to lay back down and wait for Siegfried, or even to just drift back to sleep without the other man in that bed that smelt of its owner. That alone was part of why Kilik knew he had to get up. Nothing productive came from relaxing and there were too many things laying in wait for relaxation, for weakness, for the right moment when there would be no resistance and take-over would be easy. A shiver ran through the monk's body from either fear or from the anticipation of one of the two entities in his soul. Maybe both.

Thoughts of the things in his soul were pushed stubbornly aside. He wasn't going to empower them by dwelling on them. There were more important things to deal with. He still had to purge the evil from his boss and return to the Temple with the shard. The part of him that had grown out of his years away from his childhood home- a voice whispered in his head that it was confinement, not home, but he ignored it- chided him. Before returning to that place, he would have to find a proper replacement at work. Saving his boss from possession and then leaving him without any kind of defense for his company didn't sit right with Kilik. He didn't want to think about how things could get more complicated.

It didn't take too long after that for the monk to slide himself off the bed. His feet carried him towards the door, figuring the light switch to be around there. Kilik closed his eyes when he found the switch and flipped it up. His eyelids kept the burst of electric light that instantly flooded the room from being too painful; just because his head ache was enough to keep himself focused didn't mean he wanted to make it worse. There was no need to put himself through pain if it didn't accomplish anything.

The room looked different with the light on, less cozy and more... like some kind of hotel room. It might have held Siegfried's bed and his clothes, but it didn't look like _his_. It had nothing to do with his mission, but the IT guy found himself wanting to ask about it anyways. The bed was flanked by two small end tables, each with two drawers and barely anything on top. One of them held a phone that looked like Kilik's. His brows furrowed, wondering what it was doing there. His gaze slid beyond the phone to continue taking in the details of the room. The sliding door opposite the room's entrance must have been a closet. There was a single chest of drawers that probably held more clothes or something. The monk wasn't curious enough to go digging through and find out. The only thing that seemed 'Siegfried' was the discarded shirt on the floor with the blob mascot.

Before investigating whether or not the phone was his, Kilik retrieved the shirt and put it on. It was uncomfortably big, not that he had expected that to change at all, but it was better than nothing and he didn't know what had happened to his clothes. If he was going to be spending more time in the Schauffen house, which was something he would have to do for as long as it took to remove the demon, he figured he should start keeping clothing around or something.

Picking up the device on the table revealed it to be Kilik's phone and he wasted no time in listening to the voicemail his room mate had left him. Dealing with the man's mood swings from being irresponsible and childish one moment to practically being a mother hen the next hadn't done anything to stop the way Kilik's lips twitched as he listened to the pirate's voice. It was nice to know that there was still someone alive who cared about where Kilik was and what he was doing, even if it was veiled behind and excuse of being more worried about having to pay the entirety of rent alone.

When he rang the pirate back, the call was answered on the second ring. As was often the case when they spoke, Kilik matched Maxi minor jab for minor jab, knowing very well that neither he nor the pirate really meant to insult the other. The dandy man's assumption that Kilik's stay with his boss was something more intimate than it really was caused the younger of the two to blush. He honestly, truly, really could not understand what it was about people and thinking about that kind of thing all the time. Then again, it was Maxi. The rest of the conversation went quickly and part of Kilik honestly did feel bad for his friend having to spend time alone. Perhaps one of the biggest differences between Maxi and Kilik that the monk had noticed was that Kilik didn't mind being alone. There were times when he preferred being able to work on some code or read up on something or meditate and just spend time _alone_ because it meant he could tune out the rest of the world and ignore the memories and the responsibility and the feelings. Of everything, he hated the mixture of feeling he had about his past and his present the most. Maxi, on the other hand, probably couldn't go more than a few hours alone. A day at most. Kilik might not have understood why, but he could understand that, for his room mate, being left alone was something akin to torture. It made him curious about what kind of family Maxi had grown up with, but he didn't pry. It wouldn't be fair of him to expect Maxi to share that information and then share anything of his own in not return.

Siegfried was opening the door to his room as Kilik was hanging up the phone. There was something in his eyes, a look that the monk couldn't quite understand, as his sky blue gaze swept over the smaller man. The monk didn't flinch or avert his gaze. He simply stayed where he had moved to during the call- sitting on Siegfried's bed- and waited patiently. Had Siegfried radiated evil energy, the monk's reaction would have been different, but he didn't so Kilik waited. He doubted his boss thought he was sane. Part of him had come to expect that no one outside of the Temple would listen to someone tell them they were possessed by a demon without telling that person they were crazy. He had honestly been surprised when Siegfried had given his word. He had passed out before he could say anything but, even if he hadn't, he probably wouldn't have looked a gift horse in the mouth.

His boss' voice was quieter than Kilik thought it would be when he broke the silence, his eyes sliding over the man sitting on his bed, "You're awake."

The monk nodded. Had he not been trained under the watchful gaze of Zhang He- the watchful gaze of the holy blade- he might have had trouble not squirming under the scrutiny of those muted blue eyes. He looked relaxed, but there was something about Siegfried that seemed... Kilik wasn't sure what it was and could only assume that the demon was to blame for it. "I am."

"Are you feeling better?"

Kilik's head still throbbed, though it had dissipated somewhat while he was on the phone, and the ache in his muscles and his skin would abate with movement or something to distract himself with, but he had the feeling the blonde was asking more about the fever. The room was still hot, so he figured his temperature was still running high, but he didn't feel like he was going to vomit and he probably wasn't going to pass out again any time soon, so he shrugged and replied, "A lot. Thanks."

Siegfried nodded and then strode into his room as though he hadn't just been doing anything weird, "I'm hungry." He spoke over his shoulder as he started going through the closet for something to wear, "I'm sure you are, too." He pulled out more of his usual jeans and faded t-shirt things and grinned at Kilik. Whatever he had been contemplating or whatever had been weird for him looked to be gone and his eyes were lightening to their usual hue, "Either you get over not wanting to eat your ancestors or we can go out, 'cause I don't think I have anything vegetarian friendly to cook."

"The thought of you cooking worries me," Kilik said as he got off the bed and slid his phone into the deep pockets of his borrowed shorts. The look Siegfried gave him made Kilik stare back as innocently as he could, "What?"

"Next time, I'm leaving your ass wherever I find you instead of taking you home," came the reply, accompanied by a shake of the head and an amused snort at whatever Siegfried was thinking about.

Kilik shrugged, "I'm sure that will make life easier for you next time." He stretched his arms above his head for a moment to help loosen up after spending too much time going between passed out and about to pass out, ignoring the way the taller man was following the movements. By the time he was done, Siegfried hadn't yet moved. He stared at the taller man and thought about making a quip at his expense but decided instead to say, "I need to either use your shower and borrow more clothes or stop by my apartment before we get food."

Sky blue eyes narrowed slightly, "Stop it."

The monk rose an eyebrow in response. His first thought was about whether or not he had done anything to insult the other man. Nothing came to mind that was any worse than his usual needling. That he could use the phrase 'usual needling' with his boss was a mild cause for concern, it showed a lack of distance and the last thing the monk felt he needed was to be close to another person. His track record with being close to people always ended the same way. Going through that again was not very appealing.

"Just..." The German crossed his arms and, for a moment, Kilik wondered if he was lacking anything to say or if he was having some kind of internal conversation. If it was the latter, it meant that Soul Edge was awake, but the evil blade didn't seem to be pushing for control. A long sigh later, Siegfried spoke again, "Nevermind. We'll stop by your place on the way there." Clothes in hand, Siegfried walked out of the room again.

Any bit of joking they had going on seemed to have drained from Kilik's host and the smaller man couldn't be sure whether it was a relief or a bad sign. His own issues about whether or not to even consider getting close to another human being again aside, the brunette's brow furrowed at the thought of what he had just witnessed. From what he had been taught, Soul Edge operated much like its holy rival in that it overtook a body completely. Sure, there were stories about the demon seducing his way into the hearts of men with promises of whatever the host wanted, but that was only to gain access and was always followed by domination of the mind and consumption of the spirit. Kilik had never heard of a negotiation or reasoning or a host working in tandem with the spirit.

The thought that what he had learned at the Temple could have been wrong crossed his mind, but he doubted that. Or maybe they didn't know it was a possibility? On some level that resurfaced along with the blade, Kilik couldn't bring himself to view the Elders as anything other than the wise old men he had grown up with. The childish notion that they knew everything still clung to the monk. That left the possibility that they had known and chose to lie. It was another thing that the monk refused to believe. Knowing the evil blade's tactics would aid in conquering the demon. Besides, the brunette reasoned to himself, that would put some of the blame for the actions of the evil blade on the possessed soul. If that were true, then the possessed deserved punishment as much as the demon did. Even if Soul Edge did try to reason with Siegfried, he didn't seem like the kind of man who could be sweet-talked into complacency to murder and destruction and everything else Soul Edge thrived on.

_You don't know him that well._ The voice of his teacher, as loud as it had been in the asylum. Unlike at Ravensharp, a sharp pain accompanied the words, forcing a surprised and pained gasp from the monk.

Another voice whispered, almost inaudibly faint, through his thoughts, _But you want to, don't you? _This held no comfort, no soothing over the effects of Zhang He's words. Instead, it caused another searing wave to wash over the brunette; worse than before.

His teacher's words came louder than before, his tone commanding in a way that promised pain to any who dared question or disobey, in a way it had gotten towards some of the others but never before towards Kilik, _How do you know he is not willing to bargain with that thing?! End his pathetic existence and send the spirit back where it belongs! Purify it!_

_ You aren't willing to murder a man who has done nothing wrong! _The other voice spoke at the same time as the older monk's, loud enough to be heard. Though the thoughts were not truly his, the voice was Kilik's. More forceful and perhaps a shade lower- more dangerous- than his usual tone, but his voice nonetheless. _What great evil has been committed?!_

_ Have you forgotten Ravensharp already?! All those people! Corrupted! Soiled! All goodness ripped from Xianglin because there was nothing there to stop it! Because __**you**__ weren't there to stop it!_

_ That was no great act of mercy! Those people were murdered! You saw the bodies! You __**murdered **__all those people and then, in your __**cowardice**__, unwilling to face what you had done, you __**ran**__**away**__!_

_ You __**ran away**__ from your __**duties! Hid**__ in your new life! __**Forsaking who you are!**_

_** Who you are is a monster! You do not deserve this life!**_

_** You do not deserve this body!**_

_** Give in to your punishment!**_

_** Give in to your duty!**_

_** Give in!**_

_** Give in!**_

Soft brown eyes unfocused as Kilik tried to stop the voices as they continued to battle both each other and Kilik himself for dominance. Each yelled louder than the other back and forth and back and forth, each sending pain coursing through the frail mortal body they sought to control. Every part of him felt at once as though it were freezing and on fire, the dichotomy of the opposing forces nearly sending his body into a state of shock as neurons fired in his mind, desperately attempting to assess and address the situation. Perhaps in an attempt to protect himself or to hold in valuable parts of himself that felt as though they would be pushed from his body, Kilik wrapped his arms around himself as tightly as he could, desperate to keep from being forced out. How could there be enough room for any bit of him with those two things, greater, so much greater than himself, forcing their way in and battling for residency inside of him? The voices continued to bellow at him to give in to them. He fell to his knees, suddenly confronted by a splintering road and unable to decide which path he would walk.

At the end of one stood his teacher and the young boy he had taken on as a student. Kilik could hear the memories of his youth beyond them. Back to a time when his brothers and sisters surrounded him. It was as close to a family as he had ever had. A time when he didn't have to question anything. It was so peaceful. The training, the meditation, the routine, the sheer thoughtlessness and almost trance-like quality of his life. He wouldn't be burdened with unwanted emotions or thoughts of morality. He could retreat to the safety of life behind those high Temple walls that held the rest of the world at bay. He just had to stop fighting and return home.

The other path held his boss and his room mate. Beyond them laid a future that was overflowing with the different possibilities for him to explore. There were still things he had never been able to try and so many places he had never been able to go, but had read extensively about. The longer he had spent away from his childhood home, the more he had learned of different ways of living and different points of view. He wanted to know more about the world he had been denied as a child and would continue to be denied so long as he continued his mission. He didn't want to feel guilty for his failings and he didn't want the pain of Xianglin's death. Siegfried and Maxi didn't know about that life. They never had to know. He could just forget it and move on with the life he had been building for years, happy and free. He just had to stop fighting and let his past go.

Both voices had gone- blessedly, mercifully- silent. The ambient sounds of both paths bled together and faded into undefinable background noise as soft gray mist floated and danced around the ground that the monk knelt on. The two paths and those standing at the end, waiting with expectant gazes for him to make his choice, were the only things lit in the darkness that stretched out in all directions. Though he did not move, Kilik could feel himself being pulled in both directions. He could feel his repulsion at both directions. A gasp tore itself from his lips as a sudden yank from both paths forced something out of him completely.

Wide, chocolate eyes watched in silent confusion and fear as himself as a child and himself as he was each walked away from him. About half way down the path, the stopped and looked back. The child smiled innocently and waved back at himself before turning and running to the gentle smile of his teacher, of Zhang He as he had been before Soul Calibur. He watched Xiba grab his hand, talking excitedly about everything he had missed while pulling him further down the path. Only Zhang he remained, patiently waiting for his student.

His gaze slid to where the other him, older and far less innocent, stood smirking back at him. He offered up a small wave at himself before turning and sauntering over to the other two with the kind of easy confidence that looked more at home on Maxi in a bar than on himself. He watched himself wrap his arms around Siegfried, the other man returning the gesture, and whispering something in his boss' ear that made the taller man smirk before sliding away. Maxi draped his arms around his shoulders the way he usually did when drunk and too comfortable with Kilik and, with Maxi's wild one-armed gesturing to animate whatever story he was telling, the two walked away. Only Siegfried remained, patiently waiting for his IT guy.

The weight of mahogany and azure gazing down on him was crushing for the monk. Unable to face either on, Kilik's gaze retreated the only direction it could- down. It was then that his breath caught in his throat, his eyes widening. The floor seemed to illuminate from beneath and the fog parted around the monk, revealing the ground itself to be reflective. He locked eyes with the mirror image of his own and, for a moment, thought it to be a third incarnation. When he tried to crawl back, only to have this other him move in sync, he realized that what he was staring at was not another piece ripped away but really him. He appeared as he had when he first left the Temple years ago. Tired and shaking with fright. His eyes were too wide and standing out in violent contrast with his too-pale skin.

He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but no sound came out. He shook his head, hoping for everything to dissipate around him and deliver him back to the place he had been before his path splintered. It seemed like longer ago than it should have. The more he tried to think about it, the harder it got. Zhang He and Siegfried began talking, both calling out to him. They both wanted him. He had to choose one.

Slowly, his eyes tore themselves away from his reflection to look at the two men. He had a choice to make, but he didn't know. Neither seemed right. There was no time for stalling. No time for delay. Time to decide. Time to give in, one way or the other.

"Kilik!"

Before he could lift himself and walk one way or the other, a new voice called out and captured his attention. His eyes fell back to the reflection staring up at him with a chagrin smile that, once he saw, he felt reflected upon his own face. Before he could offer up a reaction, one of the reflected hands reached through the mirror to grab his wrist. One sharp tug later, he found himself falling into his younger self through the mirror.

The force of himself hitting the ground was an immediate pain in his head amidst darkness. Carefully, he opened his eyes. He could see the carpeted floor of Siegfried's room under the same electric yellow light that had been on since he flipped the switch earlier. His arms were still wrapped around himself. He was on his knees, doubled over with his forehead resting on the carpet. The sound of a clearing throat caught his attention and he glanced up to see his boss and two women he didn't recognize starting down at him, obviously as confused as he felt.

Siegfried held his hand out to help Kilik up, but the monk knew he shouldn't accept the help. It might have been lingering trepidation from his dream- vision?- but maybe his feeling of dread was merited. The brunette placed his hand into the blonde's anyways. He was then yanked up with a sudden application of force that was enough to make him stumble forward, only to be caught by steady arms. In the unnatural heat of the embrace and the sudden feeling of bile rising in his throat, he could tell that Siegfried wasn't the one to had just helped him.

When he spoke, the demon's voice held none of the otherworldly edge that the monk had heard from him before. It was still more commanding than Siegfried's normal tone, but it was very human sounding, "I told you he was sick."


	29. The Puzzle Pieces

A/N: So, as it turns out, SC characters and having last names... yeah... I had to do some improvising on that one. Sorry for being late in getting this up. /shrug

To the lovely 1wngdngl: To answer your last question, so much. Oh. So. Much. I like Kilik (he's my favorite character from the games, which I guess is pretty obvious in my writing) so I have to torture him. I will say this, shamelessly using the infamous words of Kain, "Fate promises more twists before this drama unfolds completely."

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or the characters therein, nor do I own the above quote or the game series (Legacy of Kain) that it hails from.

The Puzzle Pieces

"Just..." Siegfried stopped himself before he could say anything about the borderline freakish Seffect the Asian had on him or insult the other man by saying he was loose or that he acted that way pretty damn well for a virgin.

_Clearly, he wants you to take him._

The voice in his head egging him on wasn't helping the situation. The German told it to shut up and received an insulted growl that made him sigh. He wasn't sure Kilik even knew what he was doing when he did things like stretch or look so... "Nevermind." He wasn't sure if it was directed at his train of thought or his employee, but he ignored it and continued speaking, "We'll stop by your place on the way there."

Before he could do anything he was going to regret or be bothered by the voice in his head, the German left the room with the clothing he had been seeking out in the first place. Part of him couldn't stop from wondering whether or not it really a demon in his head as another part of him snorted and pointed out how that made as much sense as wondering if Siegfried was the tooth fairy or if Kilik was the Easter Bunny. The part that disturbed him most was the half-laugh-half-snort that seemed equal parts amused and exasperated.

The German went back into his bathroom and showered, something he had neglected to do while taking care of the Asian. Despite the fact that he probably could have done so while Kilik was sleeping, he didn't. If the man had started screaming while he was in the shower, he'd have to go out there and get water everywhere or leave the Asian screaming until he had finished and dried himself. Neither of those options sounded worth it. Kilik being awake and less prone to loud violence against himself meant that Siegfried finally had time to wash himself and even relax a little. Granted, he had been relaxed from his first trip to the bathroom but that was a different kind of relaxed.

Siegfried, now clad in a fresh outfit, stepped out of the bathroom. His old clothes lay crumpled on the floor of the room he had just exited, ready to be picked up whenever he felt like it. The blonde was going to check up on his guest when he heard a knock at the door. That he heard something that would have normally been too quiet for him was less of a concern than it would have been if he hadn't been dealing with weird shit for a while. Of course, that didn't mean Siegfried had to like it. With his face set in a frown, the German made his way down the stairs to the front door.

When he opened the door, he was met with two women, one blonde and one with black hair- the blonde one of had her hand poised to knock again. There was half a moment when something flashed behind the black haired woman's eyes- some kind of recognition that Siegfried couldn't understand. The blonde opened her mouth to say something but, once again, the words failed to reach the German's ears. He felt himself being pulled back and struggled against it.

He shook his head and said, "I'm sorry?"

"I asked if you knew Siegfried Schauffen." The blonde did not look amused.

"That's me," the German replied. He had to deal with whatever this was and could only hope that maybe the feeling would go away. He would even settle for it not trying to pull him away. Neither was really likely.

"Really?" She didn't look convinced.

In the interest of moving things along, he reached into his pocket an fished out his wallet. He wasn't sure he could pull his ID out of it- it was getting harder to control his limbs- so he held it out. The darker haired woman took it, opened it, and pulled out his driver's license. After showing it to the other woman, clearly a police woman so the first one had to be, at least, a detective, she replaced it and handed the wallet back. Siegfried carelessly dropped it back in his pocket.

The black-haired woman offered up a tight smile and said, "I'm Agent Rekki-Maru and this is Officer Alexandria. We're here about your phone call." Her voice was controlled and neutral, unreadable.

The German's brow furrowed, "Oh. Well." That had been days ago. He had figured that, since hadn't come earlier, they weren't going to show up at all. That tugging feeling was back more urgently. He frowned slightly, internally struggling against it while trying his damnedest not to look like it. The last thing he wanted to do was seem crazy in front of a few police officers who were questioning him about murders at a crazy house. At least, he couldn't think of any reason other than that they might have been there for.

The blonde, Alexandria, looked like she was about to say or do something when Rekki-Maru shot her a look and gave a terse shake of her head. She pulled out an ID card and held it out for Siegfried to see. She looked as straight faced in her picture as she did in person. He blinked at it, trying to focus passed the pulling that seemed to come from the base of his skull. One thing stood out as a concern. This woman was not an ordinary police officer, like- he could only guess- Alexandria was. She was with Interpol. "May we come in?"

"Uh..." Blue eyes wavered as Siegfried's vision blurred slightly. "Sure." He opened the door wider and stepped back to allow them in.

The world darkened around the edges, closing in as the two women walked by him. He had fought it, but there was something there. Fear? Self-preservation? It was something that Siegfried couldn't place, but the pull for dominance was stronger than usual either because of that feeling or because this was the first time in a few days it had happened. Had the thing been waiting? Did it have to rest since the last, very long, stretch of darkness? All it took was a single slip of concentration, a thought of anything other than control of himself, for Siegfried to fall.

Reddish eyes narrowed slightly in concentration as he closed the door and turned to lead the two women further into the house to a sitting room near the kitchen. To Nightmare's credit, his voice was spot-on Siegfried's when he said, "Please, make yourselves comfortable. What can I do for you?"

His gaze went from one woman to the other. The first one, Rikki-Maru of Interpol, looked very familiar. Black bangs falling just short of sharp brown eyes that took in everything before her. There was something familiar about her. He had met this one before, long ago. His own expression was schooled into a small, mildly amused, smile. Her outfit was very professional in the same way Ivy's had been when he met her. It was tight enough to be distracting, designed to distract males- and maybe some females- into giving away more, being sloppy, while still being socially alright. All blacks and whites and professional agent. She was trying to hide her emotions, but Nightmare had had centuries of experience with human nature and, in his later years before the long years of dormancy at the hands of those accursed monks- Ah, yes, that was where he had known her- how to deal with people in such situations.

The other woman was equally as attractive as the first woman, but in a different way. Blonde hair, bright aquamarine eyes that burned with a strong will that he had seen- and broken- more times than he could count. Her uniform fit, but it wasn't deliberately tighter the way the agent's clothing was, the detail speaking volumes. This one was not ashamed of herself, but she was not going to use what she had been endowed with to her advantage in was that she could have. What a waste. Still, there was an air about her. She had something to prove, perhaps to herself or someone else. If he was going to be able to use that fact to his advantage, he would have to find out who, or what.

Two pairs of eyes stared at him in return, waiting. As much as he wanted to remain standing, a very subtle display that he had an advantage over them, he knew it would not be well received and that he did not need to go out of his way to upset either woman. Neither seemed particularly happy to be there and he doubted agitating the situation would turn out favorably for him. They had both chosen to sit next to each other on the manilla couches that Frederick must have picked out before his son had obtained ownership of the house. If he was going to be using this place as his fortress, Nightmare would have to redecorate or convince his host to do so. The demon seated himself on a matching couch that sat opposite of the one occupied by his guests, only a small light-colored wood table coffee between them.

To Nightmare's surprise- not that he showed it- it was the blonde who spoke, "How, exactly, did you know to call us about the Institute?" She didn't bother to try to look anything but suspicious. If it was an intimidation tactic, it would be better used on someone else. Anyone else, really.

Nightmare shrugged, using his host's face to look as innocently charming as he could, "I just..." He sighed, shaking his head slightly and letting his eyes close, as though remembering that night, "I should have explained more or told you guys who I was." He opened his eyes again, meeting Officer Alexandria's, "I was freaked out."

"Freaked out?" Alexandria snorted and crossed her arms, "After that... that place, all you can say is you were 'freaked out'?" There was a thread of anger in her voice, underlined very lightly with fear. She thought Siegfried had done it. As much as Nightmare wold love to claim such a high kill count, he couldn't. Though, if it had been him, the scene wouldn't have been as neat. The monk had a lot to learn about mass murder if he was ever going to know the fun of it.

"Alexandria!" Chocolate eyes that were similar to the monk's with less openness- perhaps Kilik's would be like that if he lived long enough for time to harden him further- snapped away from Nightmare and to the other woman, clearly the junior of the two.

Judging by Alexandria's frown, her whole body tensing as though holding back what she really wanted to do, the reprehension was an insult that she could not retaliate against openly. Siegfried's mind supplied the phrase good cop/bad cop but this seemed different. More of a tugging on the leash than a holding the partner back. There was clearly discourse between the two.

Rikki-Maru looked back to Nightmare, her expression an attempt to hide the fear and wonder and respect that she felt while looking at him. Had the demon been anyone else, he might have missed it, but he wasn't anyone else and he had noted the feelings her eyes tried desperately to hide. It was hard to hide one's soul from a creature that feasted upon such things. "What _Officer_ Alexandria is trying to ask is what it was you were doing at the New Institute and why you chose to attempt an anonymous call instead of staying there and waiting for help."

"Would you have wanted to stay there?" His question was softly spoken and, though he looked to the Asian when he said it, his words were meant more for her European companion. He sighed and answered the two before they could respond to his question, "I have a friend who needed help. I was taking him there, but that place was already like _that_ when we got there. I didn't want to make things worse for him, so I took him back here. It didn't help that he fell physically ill that same night. He's been recovering here."

"This friend of yours, can we talk to him?" Alexandria still looked skeptical, but she wasn't being as visibly angry as before. Holding it in, like a good little lacky in the presence of her superior.

Nightmare couldn't be positive the monk wouldn't attack him on sight, or try to purify him or something else to that nature, but the worst that could do at this point was back up the demon's statement about his 'friend' needing a place like Ravensharp. He nodded, his smile becoming somewhat nervous, "Of course. He's still sick, but if you insist..."

The senior of the two gave a small nod, "We're going to have to insist."

The demon stood and gave a quick, "This way," before turning and walking away. Their footsteps followed him through the house and up the stairs. If the senior of the two could feel the wax and wane of energies playing out around them as they walked, growing thicker with every step, she did nothing to show it. Officer Alexandria, however, gave a shuttering inhale of breath and Nightmare could practically feel her glare on his back as she walked. Her steps were heavier from either effort or discomfort; probably both. He doubted she could hear the conversations going on within those energies. They were nearly inaudible, even to the demon.

The monk had a choice to make, it seemed, over which blade would control his fate. It was an anomaly at the very least; nearly impossible. Souls were, by virtue of human nature, rarely truly neutral. It was, Nightmare had found, the nature of human souls to be differing degrees of passionate. Whether they leaned towards the constructed definitions of good or evil came down to forces within the mortal that the demon blade had never cared to understand. He knew simply that they did and the knowledge served him well. Even those that were caught close enough to the middle were usually there, not by choice, but by a certain lack of feeling and strength that kept them from being easily swayed in either direction. Those were the ones that lacked all flavor and held the least nutrients for the soul-consuming blades. The monk broke those molds by having both a neutral soul and passion and strength.

Holding one's spirit in the middle, not allowing it to drift into the direction nature intended, was a dangerous game that spoke of sheer will strong enough to force themselves not to be swayed by anything. Of course, Nightmare smirked- confident that the women at his back would not notice- such a stance was unnatural and no force was truly unmovable. He would simply have to force the soul to make a choice. One that suited the demon. It would simplify many things in his existence.

All those thoughts took place in the few steps it took to get to the door of Siegfried's bedroom. Without preamble, Nightmare grasped the doorknob and twisted. The sight that greeted the three in the room, when they walked in, was Kilik collapsed to his knees on the floor, hunched over with his head on the ground. He was hugging himself and the last bit of a tremor was working its way out of his body. He was still in those things Siegfried had dressed him in, but the self-inflicted wounds had vanished and his hair was different. Brown locks fell, not just over the monk's ear, but a little beyond his shoulders. It couldn't have been more than a handful of hours, if even that, since the demon had looked upon the monk with his own- or, rather, Siegfried's- eyes. This change was a minor curiosity, but nothing that merited a reaction in front of the women.

The two at the demon's back stilled. Nightmare cleared his throat, not trusting himself to talk just yet. The normal, human sounding, quality of his voice was getting easier every time the demon practiced it, but he doubted it would sound as such after walking through as much energy as he had. He would have to be very careful when he spoke so as not to draw suspicion from the women behind him. The blonde one was already skeptical of the demon's story and the other one was being almost too accepting.

When the monk looked up- the wound on his face, the demon noticed, hadn't vanished, but looked more like an old scar- Nightmare silently held his hand out for the other man. After obvious hesitation, Kilik's palm met his own and the demon easily pulled the smaller man from the ground. In a calculated move, he made the monk stumble specifically to catch him. Holding the brunette man would help Nightmare restrain him if need be, as well as make the two appear close for the authorities. It would make his alibi more believable if the man he was taking care of didn't attempt to murder him.

Kilik's skin was cool against the demon's, and he surprised them both by not actually fighting. Nightmare turned them around to face the two women and spoke, "I told you he was sick." His voice was not as bad as it could have been, but there was a depth there that had to do with how much energy he had walked through.

"If he's as sick as you say he is," Alexandria frowned, looking Kilik up and down as though judging whether or not he looked like he should to fit in with the story she had been given, "Why not take him to a normal hospital or a different institution?" The Interpol agent shot her another look, but didn't say anything.

"Please don't talk about me like I'm not here," Kilik shook his head, his arms moving to hug Nightmare's closer around his body, "I asked him not to take me to the hospital." His voice was quiet, but it sounded honest. Nightmare hadn't realized that lying was one of the monk's talents, but it made sense. Humans had a natural affinity for being dishonest with one another. That the monk had figured out enough to realize what the situation was was convenient. Clever worm.

The blonde stiffened a little, her frown deepening around the edges, "My apologies, Mister..."

"Su," The monk replied as he leaned more of his weight against the demon, probably to appear more relaxed and less conspicuous. The demon could feel a piece of himself still there as well as, very faintly, the other blade. It would be easier to call to the dark energies in the monk, but the demon's hand was stayed by the two women. Nightmare had a feeling Kilik knew that and it was the monk's only reason for being so relaxed docile in the arms of his enemy.

A delicate eyebrow rose as Alexandria repeated, "Mister Su. That's an odd name." She crossed her arms and continued, "Tell me, Mr. Su, what were you doing two nights ago?"

Kilik heaved a small sigh, "I'm embarrassed to say this, but I had a bit of an..." He shrugged, seemingly lost for words, "...an episode. Or, really, a panic attack. I have those sometimes, but it was a lot worse then." Nightmare's arms were held closer to the monk, a sign for the demon to tighten his grip around the other. The demon complied as the shorter man continued, "Siegfried helped calm me down and then said he thought I could use some rest. I don't," he shook his head, "I don't like hospitals or crazy houses or anything. If I knew that was where he thought I should rest, I never would have gotten into the car with him."

The police officer's frown never lessened as she listened to the Chinese man. When he finished, her eyes were narrowed, "I see. Do you usually go to Ravensharp for a _panic attack_." Clearly, she wasn't buying it.

"I don't usually go to Ravensharp for anything," Kilik replied.

Nightmare gave a small, almost embarrassed, looking smile that would have put any actor to shame in how sincere it looked, "I didn't think I could take care of him and wasn't sure where else he could get help. It was the first place that came to mind."

"...alright," the blonde woman still didn't look convinced, but she moved on, "What did you see when you got there?"

"Not much," the monk sighed, "I saw where we were going and the thought of being stuck in some nut-house terrified me. I started to panic, like everything I had been worried about before was back except things were worse because now I was going to be stuck in some crazy house." His body shook a little until a few deep breaths seemed to calm the brunette down. This worm was much better than Nightmare had previously given him credit for. "I remember yelling at Siegfried and freaking out. He practically had to pry me out of the car, being as calm an soothing as he could. It didn't help as much as I think he meant."

As much as he loathed to do so, it helped with the story they were feeding the two women, so Nightmare gave the soon-to-be servant a gentle squeeze and murmured, "Sorry."

Kilik returned the gesture with a gentle sideways smile at the man behind him, "You were just trying to help." The sound of the junior of the two officials clearing her throat caused Kilik to look back to the women and continue, "Sorry. So, we got there and I'm freaking out and Siegfried gets me out of the car. The closer we got, the worse I became. I know I hyperventilated and was trying to plead not to be forced there, and had passed out before we even got to the door. I was surprised I wasn't there when I woke up."

For the first time since seeing the Asian man, Rikki-Maru spoke, "You haven't been keeping up with the news the past couple of days, have you, Mr. Su?"

"No, ma'am. Should I have been?"

The senior of the two women looked over at her companion and was very calm when she stated, "I believe we're done here."

Alexandria opened her mouth to say something, and closed it again when hard brown eyes narrowed threateningly at her. She gave a stiff nod of her head, her hands falling into fists at her sides, "Yeah, we're done." She didn't sound very convinced of her words.

The black-haired woman nodded and held her hand out, "Mr. Schauffen. Mr. Su. Thank you for your cooperation. I believe we can find our own way out." She shook both their hands before turning and striding away, without waiting for the other woman.

Alexandria quickly shook both Nightmare's and Kilik's hand without a word. Her lips were a thin line, as though she might say something she would regret if she dared to open them. Then, she turned and followed the Interpol agent. There was clearly some dissension in the ranks with those two. If they ever showed up again, Nightmare would use that to get the better of them.

"Let me go," the worm had gone very still in Nightmare's arms and hadn't spoken until they heard the front door close. His voice was quiet and almost calm, but there was clearly anger just below the surface.

Nightmare snorted, "I was planning on it, but now that you ordered me..." He tightened his grip, a satisfied smirk forming at the smaller man suddenly trying to get away from him, "You'll either beg like a good worm, or you'll deal until I decide to let you go." The voice that fell from the German's lips was deeper and more commanding without anyone to pretend around. He also took the opportunity to seek out the bit of himself buried in the other's soul. "Ah... there it is..." the demon murmured.

The instant Nightmare found it, the monk's struggling to get out of his enemy's grip went from forceful to almost hectic, "Let go!" Pulling at the arms locked around him did nothing, pushing away or trying to squirm out of the grip all proved useless.

Kilik's efforts were met with a deep, growling laughter. "Awe, how cute. It thinks it can get away." The lingering taint answered to Nightmare's call readily, and the demon could feel it rising, seeking him out as he pushed energy into the small body he held captive.

In a normal human, the process would not have taken overly long; longer with those who struggled against his influence, but none could deny the cursed blade's will forever. All of Nightmare's known problems would have been solved in that instant and all that would be left would be using the monk and the German to amass power and, when he got bored, start the slaughter. As though specifically to be a pain in the ass, the monk wasn't a normal human. Even with the demon's aura so close to the body, the spark inside Kilik that was Soul Calibur's influence responded. It did not taint or shrink away. There was not enough power there to destroy the demon, but it was enough to keep him from fully taking the man in his arms.

Nightmare growled, feeling the slow burn of purification creeping outward from the worm's soul, "**Stop struggling!**" He had thought the monk would be too weak for that after how much he had felt radiating from the small man when had been approaching the room. He redoubled his efforts, both pushing his taint into the Chinese man's soul and reclaiming the bit of himself that had been left there long ago. It wouldn't do to keep a piece that had been cut off from him for so long in the monk. Nightmare needed one that had been more intimately his if he was going to gain a foothold in the worm's will and control his actions. Something so distant had the chance of splintering off and attempting things alone, as the one that had been murdered in the asylum had done.

The onslaught of information gained from taking the piece back into himself was forceful enough to lessen the demon's grip. It was all the opportunity Kilik needed to push away. The monk made it a few steps away before collapsing to his knees again, his eyes falling shut as he focused on purifying himself. His aura pulsed and flared; in the middle of regaining and learning everything the wayward chunk of corruption had to offer, Nightmare could feel what he had just given the monk dwindling. He had been prepared to grab the brunette again and force more into the monk if it weren't for the purification suddenly stopping before the last bit of Nightmare was gone.

The demon's expression slid from anger into a vile smirk with what he had just learned. "I remember you now..." He stalked forward and held his hand out to grab the mop of brown on the smaller man's head and pull him up, but stopped just short of it. The evil hadn't dissipated completely within Kilik, but the energy surrounding him was clearly meant to burn the demon. He could feel it cracking and jumping under his hand, as though trying to get away from Kilik and attack the demon. If he touched the other man, he'd have that to deal with. It would be an unnecessary battle. There were other things he could do that would be easier. "You're the one from years ago."

It had been jumbled in Kilik's mind, but Nightmare was able to work out some of what had happened, and fill in missing bits with his own memories. It was before he had been broken off from the rest of Soul Edge. He had been trapped in that damned temple! Ling-Sheng Su. That was it. Then someone had come. That Interpol woman- curious, that. He could hear the screams and practically feel the blood being shed. Kilik had been one of the infected ones. He had been unprepared and lost his mind to the blade. So much delicious killing after that. He had been skilled and underestimated. Or maybe the others didn't want to hurt him and were holding back. No matter. Until they were stopped. Long hair... those eyes... Red eyes narrowed as he recalled the man who had been the vessel of Soul Calibur.

This new knowledge was actually worrisome for the demon. If this worm was from that place, if that woman who had been killed had been from that place... they can't have been the only ones. Kilik had known about him for a while. He would have had time to let that information trickle back to that damned Temple. The vessel of Soul Calibur had been consumed entirely by the holy sword. Nightmare was only a fraction of Soul Edge. He wouldn't survive that confrontation. Even as strong as he had grown since his little experience with Ivy. At least that had left him with places to run other than back to his imprisonment should the host body be destroyed.

There was one more bit of information the demon learned and his hand fell back to his side. Nightmare's face hardening into a grim expression, "Your body." Kilik didn't say anything. He didn't move. Nightmare growled, but partially through it turned into cruel, cruel laughter, "Of course that would make you such a pain in the ass. You were raised to resist me. Or rather..." the demon purred, "You were raised to accept _him_ and you're terrified of it! You need me, worm! A _monk_ using **me** to hide from the holy blade! Priceless!"

"Siegfried!" It was the only thing the monk said. He was shaking slightly, but it would have been impossible to tell that from his voice alone.

Just like that, Nightmare could feel the German stir within. He could have forced his host back into dormancy and killed the monk there, but there was no need for that. Nightmare was satisfied with what he had learned and would retreat until he had need to take control again. There would be other opportunities and, if he was going to be able to withstand being found by the vessel of Soul Calibur, he would need to be much stronger. He would rest and feast on souls later, when the monk was either consumed or out of the way.


	30. The Car Ride

A/N: For anyone who has time to spare, give the Love It, Love It album by Nana Grizol a listen. I don't know why, but I've really been feeling it lately and, in a way, it makes me think of Kilik; sometimes picturing the songs being about him and sometimes picturing it as something he would think or say to someone else. Sometimes both those things at once.

To the lovely ThalieXVII: It is always nice to find that an author has posted more than one chapter since the last time you read, isn't it? Also, I'm really glad that you like my sentences. :D This chapter isn't as exciting as that, but I hope you like it anyways. A bit of lightness after so much heavy stuff. xD

To the lovely 1wngdngl: Interpol and a few other interested parties are going to have to tread pretty carefully if they want to chance controlling a demon. Zhang He still has a part to play and that's all I can tell you right now. I like to imagine these two as being like the odd couple but with more demons and less crotchety old men. xD

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

The Car Ride

Kilik didn't move until he felt the demon slide away and heard his boss' surprised voice, "...Kilik?"

The brunette let out a relieved sigh, thankful that he had been able to put off making a decision without having to fight the demon. He knew that he had been at a disadvantage and that he had been in the arms of his foe, but he also knew that he had to get the two innocents away from there. That knowledge had prompted him to play along with whatever game the demon had been playing. What had happened directly after they were gone, feeling a newer, fresher, taint being forced into his body as the old one, the one that had grown as familiar and controllable as any other part of him, was ripped out, had been worth not having to watch those women die. He hadn't been in any condition to fight the demon head on. It had been surprising enough when Nightmare- so that was what the demon was calling itself- had backed away without fighting Siegfried. That, or Siegfried had gotten a lot better at taking his body back, but that was doubtful. The German didn't even _believe _in demons.

"Yeah," the monk murmured. He sighed quietly and sat back on his ankles, looking over his shoulder to meet the surprised gaze of his boss. He offered up the barest of smiles; it was meant to be comforting, but Kilik had the feeling it lacked something, because it didn't seem to change the expression on his boss' face at all. The monk already knew the answer, but felt the need to ask anyways, "Siegfried?" He wasn't sure if he wanted to reassure himself or the German that it was really him.

"Yeah," Siegfried gave an odd, quizzical upward quirk of the lips, "Yeah, it's me." He took the few steps that brought him around to Kilik's front. "What happened?" The sound of the German's voice was steady and calm, but there was confusion and worry swimming in the blue skies of his eyes. He hesitated for a brief moment before holding his hand out to the smaller man.

The bitter irony of replaying a scene he had been in with the demon earlier was not lost on the monk. Despite that, Kilik didn't hesitate before taking the offered hand. Siegfried's skin was warm, or maybe Kilik was cold. The monk didn't know and didn't much care. He had enough on his mind without adding to it. Like how Nightmare knew about the Temple, about Kilik's mission... about Soul Calibur and who was to be the holy blade's next vessel. The monk didn't want Nightmare to be right. He didn't want to need the demon or the corruption to keep himself from becoming like Zhange He. At the same time, he could not deny it. Not if he wanted to be honest with himself.

Listing the things he wanted would be complicated and take more time than Kilik had to spend on those things, but he was fairly certain that not being alone would be somewhere towards the top of the list. His brothers and sisters at the Temple wouldn't stand by a man who selfishly held onto darkness. Maxi wouldn't know why Kilik needed the comfort of companionship, but the Chinese man knew that his room mate wouldn't deny him. After being hit a few times, the pirate would even stop asking why. Probably. It didn't matter what Maxi would do. He was somewhere else in the city doing whatever he was doing. Siegfried was around and he had held his hand out to the IT guy. That was more than enough.

After being helped up, Kilik's hand lingered in his boss' for heartbeat or two longer than it should have before slipping away so the brunette could cross his arms. It was as close to wrapping them around himself for comfort as the monk would allow.

Blonde brows furrowed, "Kilik." His voice wasn't as loud as it had been and had a tint more concern, "What happened?"

"You didn't hurt anyone." It was hard to know where to start; Kilik hadn't been aware of the demon slipping out or the women showing up. He didn't know how much Siegfried remembered. Letting the blonde know he hadn't hurt anyone seemed like a good place to begin. He then relayed what he knew about what had happened, "There were two women here asking about a couple of nights ago. I don't know what-"

"That isn't what I was asking about." Siegfried cut the smaller man off, "I mean..." he motioned vaguely at the monk to whom he was speaking, "What happened? To you."

It took a moment for the brunette to figure out what he was really being asked. He hadn't gotten physically hurt again and it was unlikely that Siegfried would know anything about holy or cursed energies. Even if he did, Kilik kept the darkness buried well under the surface. Needing it in his soul and having it out for others to see or feel were a far cry from each other. Siegfried knowing anything about the weird vision Kilik had had before being pulled- pulling himself?- out of it and everything with the demon was less likely. He shrugged, "I don't know what you mean."

Sharp blue eyes traveled up and down Kilik's form, slower than the monk would have thought necessary. Then again, he didn't really know what it was the blonde was looking at, or for, or what he was really doing. "You're not hurt anymore and," Siegfried frowned slightly, a large hand running through soft brown hair just enough to illustrate the increased length before falling back to his side, "You look different."

Somehow, between demons both within and outside of himself and the morally questionable actions that lead to Kilik being in the situation in which he found himself, he hadn't noticed the change. He hadn't been like that before his vision. If he had to guess, Kilik would say that it happened just before the demon and the two women found him. His physical condition hadn't been very important at the time. The monk heaved a quiet sigh accompanied by a small shrug, "Ancient Chinese secret?" He hadn't ever been particularly fond of that phrase, but it was a part of pop culture that he had heard on more than one occasion and seemed to fit the situation. If he told his boss the truth, it probably would have lead to the German questioning his sanity. Again.

Siegfried's mouth opened as if to say something, closed for a moment, then opened as he tried again, "Sure. Right. Of course. Whatever." He shook his head and waved it away, "C'mon."

When the blonde turned and started to walk downstairs, it was Kilik's turn to look confused as he followed his boss, "What?"

Not bothering to look back at the other man, Siegfried explained, "We're going to your place. You need to shower and get different clothes before we get food, remember?"

Chocolate eyes blinked for a moment, his mind trying to wrap around the German being able to just continue on like nothing weird had happened. He didn't know what he had been expected from Siegfried, but he supposed there wasn't much else his boss could do. Dwelling on things out of his control wouldn't help anything and the situation was, as far as Kilik could tell, very much out of Siegfried's control. He was doing an admirable job of handling it. The monk nodded despite the fact that his boss would not see it.

"I'll need my keys," the monk said, the thought occurring to him as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

The blonde snorted and walked back towards the kitchen, "You don't want to wait outside until your room mate lets you in?"

Kilik trailed after the taller man, "Even if I did, Maxi probably wouldn't have his key either."

They went through the kitchen to a door next to Siegfried's refrigerator that lead to a large pantry and a washer/dryer pair. On top of the washer was a mess of black fabric that used to be a pair of pants atop a similarly destroyed pile of white. The monk didn't have to examine either very closely to know that he wouldn't be able to salvage them unless he felt like sewing. He wasn't about to do that. Siegfried picked up the black mess and held it out to the IT guy, who took it and dug around- having to push stray hair out of the way whenever it obstructed his sight- until he found the small key ring he had been looking for. It held his apartment key, a spare key to get into the office that Frederick had given him a few months into working for the man, and a small yin-yang pendent that Maxi had given to him. Apparently, the thing had reminded the pirate of his room mate. Kilik gave a bitter smile at it before slipping the set into the pocket of his borrowed shorts, unable to ignore just how fitting the trinket was.

With an annoyed grunt, he pushed his hair back again and turned the fabric over looking for his wallet. It wasn't in the pocket he could have sworn he had left it in. He spent more time than he probably should have looking through all the pockets- and having to stop every so often to move his damned hair out of his way- to find a wallet that was, apparently, not there. He gave an annoyed growl and was about to move a particularly stubborn set of strands that kept falling across his face when he felt two hands gently pulling his hair back for him. A few more gentle tugs later found the Asian with a low hanging pony tail.

Kilik glanced back at his boss, "Thank you." The German's hair, which had been in a similar pony tail a moment, hung carelessly free down the other man's shoulders and back.

The owner of the house offered up a shrug and a quick, "No problem," before asking, "What are you looking for now?"

"Wallet."

The German seemed to think about it for a moment before saying, "It might have fallen out of your pocket in the car."

"Could have," the Asian agreed, despite having been passed out during the car ride to which his boss had been referring and honestly having no way of knowing whether or not that had been a possibility. He saw no reason not to trust his boss. It wasn't like the taller man or the demon needed the money or would have found anything in there useful enough to merit stealing.

"You can check before we leave," the German offered with a shrug.

Kilik nodded in response and tossed what remained of his pants back where Siegfried had gotten them from. The two walked through the house again, with the owner of the house pausing only to grab his own set of keys- one much more filled out than Kilik's- as well as his phone and wallet on the way out. Siegfried waited for his guest to walk out the front door first so he could lock it behind them before the two went to the car.

The sun was still out, but it was later in the day than Kilik would have preferred. They had maybe a couple hours of light left before night would fall. The realization brought a small frown to the shorter man's face. At least the office was closed during weekends, leaving neither of them missing a day of work. They'd have to return there the next day, but that was alright. Work meant not having to think about other things, and Kilik welcomed that prospect.

Neither man said anything; Kilik was too busy considering how he would best deal with the demon without Siegfried getting hurt in the process and Siegfried either lost in his own train of thought or steadily not thinking about anything. The monk had no idea which. They slid into their seats, the soft purr of the engine and the sound of bad music wafting around them as they left the large house behind.

The least of Kilik's worries at that moment was his physical appearance. What did it matter how he looked when he had the fate of Siegfried's soul, as well as his own, to muse over. With a chagrin smile, he noted the severity of everything not having to do with how he looked and recognized that, despite all that, he could not stop himself from absently running a hand through the pony that he had slung over his shoulder and thinking about how it looked and how it would be bothersome to take care of. It was the kind of petty concern that had been developed far away from the Temple during the times when Kilik had nothing worse to worry about. Proof of how vain he had grown over the years.

Sky blue eyes glanced over at the monk from time to time at red lights or when traffic was moving slowly enough to permit half a moment of not watching the bumper of the car ahead of them crawl forward. About half way to their destination, while waiting for the light to turn green, Siegfried broke the quiet ambient sounds of the car, "Are you going to cut it again?"

Half-way through combing his fingers through his hair- again- Kilik froze. His eyes refocused on the world outside of himself and slid over to look at his boss, who had gone back to watching the road as the car crept onward through the mess of vehicles and lights on the road, "What?" Slowly, his hand completed the motion before pushing the hair back over his shoulder and dropping his hand into his lap.

"Are you going to cut it again?" Siegfried repeated. The question was simple, but Kilik had the feeling it was more his boss trying to make conversation than actually being curious. Maxi hated silence after tense moments, and Kilik couldn't imagine the last chunk of time at the house as anything other than tense. Tense might even have been putting it lightly. He didn't think the German really cared about the answer.

Kilik shrugged, turning his head to look out the window. Another moment being filled with idle talk, another moment of feeling uncomfortable. Still, he had been asked a question, which was easier to respond to than most other things people used to polite conversation, like comments about the weather or sports teams that the monk wasn't familiar with and didn't care about. His voice was barely louder than the music when he said, "As soon as I can." After all, he hadn't kept his hair long since Maxi had cut it for the first time when they had met years ago. He liked it short. He looked more normal like that and less like, as his room mate had put it, a backwater runt.

The Chinese man's boss gave a soft hum, chancing another glance at the man in the passenger seat before sky blue returned to the task of driving, "Too bad." He offered up an easy grin that the monk wouldn't have been able to produce at that moment and commented, "I like it that way."

"It doesn't look very professional," the IT guy said his eyes taking in the appearances of the cars and buildings they passed, as well as to occasional pedestrian walking or waiting for a bus. It was fairly simple to point out who was and who wasn't going for the 'professional' look.

Siegfried gave a small snort that held traces of a laugh just under the surface, "Are you trying to say I look unprofessional? I keep my hair long."

Kilik smirked, slowly turning his head to raise an eyebrow at his boss, "You have to ask that?" He crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly as he said, "You do remember what I told you when we first met, right?"

"Cut my hair and try again," Siegfried said, frowning slightly, "Yeah, I remember." His frown slid into a sideways smirk at his employee, "Remind me again why I haven't fired you yet?"

"Maybe because I looked professional," Kilik mused, pulling the stretchy black band that held soft brown locks captive out to stretch and play with it with his fingertips, "Or maybe because you need me."

"Don't forget," Siegfried murmured, "You need me, too."

The monk froze. Slowly, his gaze moved from the hair-tie in his hand over to the driver. He half expected to see red eyes, alight with some sick sense of humor, staring back at him and daring him to say anything to the contrary, and a wide grin, twisting Siegfried's features into some dark mockery of joy. What he found, instead, was his boss looking straight ahead at the road with the same jovial smirk, softened by the humor swimming in the sky of his eyes. If the demon had surfaced to make a jab at him, it had already sunken back to the depths of Siegfried's soul.

Noticing his passenger's sudden discomfort, the blonde man driving the car shook his head a little and said, "Because I sign your paycheck."

"Yeah," Kilik breathed out, slowly looking out the window again. Not knowing if it was honestly his boss making a joke or the demon rising to the surface or, worse than either of those, the demon influencing Siegfried without the German realizing or being able to fight it was troubling for the monk.

Silence feel between the two once more. If Kilik had been watching his boss, he would have noticed the subtle clenching of the other man's jaw or the way his eye occasionally gave a small twitch. He also would have seen it coming when Siegfried suddenly flung his arm sideways to hit his passenger's arm, "Green bug." The sudden contact, while not too painful, was surprising enough to make the smaller of the two jump in his seat.

"What was that?" Kilik glared across the short distance between the passenger and driver seat, absently rubbing where he had been hit.

"I hit you," Siegfried chuckled at his employee's reaction, "Oh, come on. I didn't hit you _that _hard."

"_Why_ did you hit me?"

The larger man shrugged, "Saw a green bug." He threw a glance over at the other man before returning his eyes to the road, "Don't tell me you've never played punch bug before."

"I'm not playing punch bug now," Kilik grumbled, looking out the window again. He had, in fact, been introduced to that game by his room mate. Since that day, Kilik had grown a none-too-small hatred of such roadway pass-times.

"Oh?" The German man glanced at his passenger for a moment before hitting the other man again, "Red bug."

Quick brown eyes scanned the road ahead and to the sides of them, unable to find the bug in question, "You made that up." Kilik's eyes snapped back to the driver, glaring at the larger man who had struck him.

Siegfried smirked, giving a small shrug and a nonchalant, "You must have missed it."

The two continued on for a couple lights longer with Siegfried smiling and softly singing along to the songs on the radio while Kilik sulked in the passenger seat, looking out the window. Before the monk could get too comfortable, however, he found himself getting hit in the arm again to the sound of Siegfried proclaiming, "Blue bug."

Once again, looking around- this time turning in his seat in case the car he was searching for had already been passed- offered up no car matching the one he had been hit for. After a moment of looking around and half a moment of glaring at his boss, Kilik's lips pulled into an almost vicious smirk as he flung his arm to backhand his boss' bicep as hard as he could. The sudden impact made Siegfried jump while Kilik calmly said, "Yellow bug."

"Where?" Siegfried laughed.

Kilik looked out the passenger window again, feigning innocence, "You must have missed it."

The response he got from the larger man was another hit in the arm. When Kilik looked over, as if daring his boss to name another colored bug, Siegfried grinned and said, "That one was because I'm bored."

Chocolate eyes narrowed as Kilik hit his boss again. He didn't bother calling out a car either and he wasn't too surprised to be hit in the arm a fourth time. It might have been childish, but Kilik started hitting the German man back every time he was hit. It didn't dissuade Siegfried from flinging his arm out, but it did- after a while- bring a smile to the monk's face. Maxi had never hit as hard as Siegfried was hitting, and Kilik never hit Maxi as hard as he ended up hitting his boss, but that probably had to do with one of them housing a demon and the other not. By the time they were pulling into Kilik's apartment complex, both the monk and the possessed man were smiling. Siegfried's grin was wide, open and honest while Kilik's was smaller and subdued, but there nonetheless.

The brunette didn't have to tell the other man where to park, Siegfried apparently remembered from the last time he had been there. They both got out of the car and strode to Kilik's door. The monk was less than thrilled to find it unlocked and was prepared to reprimand Maxi if the pirate had left without locking up. To his surprise, Maxi was home and he had a visitor. Kilik stopped in the door way, staring wide-eyed at the young man who's expression of shock mirrored his own.


	31. The Kids Meet

A/N: Been watching Walking Dead and writing for L4D lately (30 day challenges on Tumblr for the win x3), so I've been in a very zombie mood lately. Sorry if that effects the flow of this story. I'm trying to keep that from happening.

To the lovely 1wngdngl: I can't explain why, but I always picture Kilik as being shorter than Siegfried. I guess it has to do with before SCV came out and Sieggy's new height was released, but Kilik hadn't yet been announced. In my head, Sieggy got taller and Kilik stayed as short as he had been in SCII or III. Either way... yeah. That's my excuse. Also, Siegfried is taking it pretty well, but moping wouldn't really help and Kilik does that enough for the both of them. xD

To the lovely ThalieXVII: I wish there could be more playful moments like that. Something to offset the craziness. I like the hair conversation, too. Kilik and Xiba. I feel bad for them, but I love them. xD

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

The Kids Meet

Whatever Maxi had been saying and the sound of Xiba's laughter died away, seemingly falling as the lighthearted atmosphere of the room grew heavy with the arrival of the two other man. The young monk thought he had known, really _known_, that he would have to see Kilik again and he had believed that he would be able to handle it with the same ease with which he handled a staff, but when his eyes met those of his former teacher's, he realized how foolish that assumption had been. Looking across the room at the men in doorway, the young man who was seeing someone who he had both respected and hated almost couldn't recognize the object of years of inner turmoil who was standing before him. It wasn't the questionable outfit he wore or the scar that marred his features, but the look in his eyes that Xiba didn't recognize.

The Kilik who had shown him how to leave the Temple and who had trained him, the Kilik who had caused so many deaths and been exiled from the Temple... the man in the doorway was neither or those. His eyes held none of the comforting encouragement that Xiba had relied on when training. They were no longer far away and frightening, tinged with a red-hot hatred that the boy had never before seen and was haunted by for months, that Kilik had while leaving. The chocolate orbs staring back at him were the same color Xiba remembered, but they held a mixture of surprise, fear, and some kind of eagerness that the young boy had trouble understanding despite the fact that he was certain his eyes held the same things.

The air was heavy and tense with waiting. Both men were waiting for the other to do something, anything, to break the tension. The rest of the world had ceased to exist. That was why it was such a shock when the first one to speak was neither of them.

"Another one?" Both jumped at the sound of the blonde man's voice as he looked over the short brunette's head.

The youngest of them pointed over Kilik to the tall man behind him and blinked dumbly, "...is that...?"

Kilik gave the barest of nods to answer the question before stepping forward to allow the other man into the apartment, "This is my boss, Siegfried. Siegfried, this is Xiba."

Auburn eyes blinked, trying to figure out what was going on. Kilik didn't seem as evil as he did when he had been banished. The Siegfried guy didn't seem like he was possessed by a demon. The only thing that made sense was Maxi's earlier comment about blondes. The young monk shook his head, trying to get rid of that thought as soon as possible.

Siegfried gave a small smile as he stepped around his shorter companion and extended a hand towards Xiba, who stared at it, "Nice to meet you. You're...?"

"...Xiba...?" The Chinese kid blinked, "Kilik literally just told you that." Might not have been possessed, but definitely dumb.

The German man's hand fell back to his side as Kilik clarified, "He's my younger brother." It was like some kind of slap to the face to hear the older monk call him that. Years ago, he would have been so proud to be called that, but that was then.

That had been a time before the madness had broken out at the Temple and before Kilik had been banished. Back then, all Xiba could think was that it wasn't fair for them to send him away. All the ones who had been possessed and died were treated with all the respect any member of the Temple would receive, but the two who lived were cast out. It didn't make sense to the child Xiba had been. After that time, when the man he had looked up to and practically idolized and their sworn sister were gone, when the bodies had been seen to, and when the rain and darkness of that night were clearing, the child monk came to stop pitying the banished pair. The Elders felt the Temple was no longer safe. Everyone had grown lazy and lax, they had said. Zhang He had backed up those claims enthusiastically. Training became harsher. Rules became stricter. Guards were posted around the walls day and night.

The nights of sneaking away with his mentor were a fading memory, replaced by restless nights of painful training at the hands of his new instructor. Zhang He was lacking a pupil with Kilik's absence and took his student's young protege as recompense. The child monk had never realized how horrible the Demon was to the one he taught. He couldn't understand how his older brother had been able to look upon Zhang He with such fond eyes for years. Zhang He must have gone easier on Kilik than he had gone on Xiba. That was the only thing that made sense. To add insult to injury, every mistake the child made, every technique he had trouble with, brought more pain and insults and- worst of all for the rusty haired youth- comparisons to the traitor he had replaced. Years of being told he was weaker than Kilik. He didn't learn as quickly as Kilik. He was not as focused or disciplined as Kilik. He cried out in pain and spoke back; Kilik would never had done those things. Kilik knew better. Kilik was the preferred one and Xiba was merely a cheap replacement.

It was difficult to pity a man who had been awarded freedom for murdering his brothers and sisters while Xiba had stayed behind with the rest of the denizens of the Temple to clean up the mess. It was much easier to hate that man, and why not hate him? The older monk who auburn eyes had excitedly watched and emulated and admired had been given the one thing his younger brother had always wanted! Kilik left Xiba behind and, for that, the younger monk had never forgiven him. Could never forgive him. He thought he could push those feelings aside and do as he had been told by his new teacher, but ignoring his emotions was something the young monk had never been very skilled at. Zhang He would have called him weak in that moment and scolded or hurt him, but Xiba didn't care.

"Don't say that!" All eyes turned to Xiba at the outburst. Confusion in blue, mild interest and curiosity in storm gray, and finally pain and guilt swimming and swirling in soft brown. Seeing his former mentor's reaction only made the youth angrier. Xiba had been the one to suffer! Xiba had been left behind as an offering- a _replacement_- for the Demon! Xiba had been given a taste of hope and freedom and happiness and then had it ripped away by a man who dared to look at him with those eyes!

Kilik opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the sound of the younger monk yelling at him in their native tongue, reminding him that they had not been brothers for many, many years. Without waiting to hear a reply, the youth stormed passed them and out the door. His whole body was shaking and he didn't know where he would go, but it didn't matter. As long as he could get away, even if only for a little while, it didn't matter. The Elders and Zhang He were too far away to stop him and he was confident in his abilities to best the man he had replaced, should the older monk try to keep him in that apartment. After all, while the older of the two had been out making friends and being free, the younger one had been training and growing stronger.

A breeze cooled the young man's lightly tanned skin as he walked in the evening sun. It was pleasant and calming, a welcomed changed from the cars and planes and buildings he had passed through on his journey from his home to this alien place. So many things changed from one place to the other, from the scenery to the people and the sounds and smells, but the feeling of open air and ground beneath his feet were constants and welcomed ones at that. Xiba walked and walked and didn't think about stopping as he moved along sidewalks and the sides of streets in the foreign cityscape in which he found himself. There was something about the city that didn't quite sit well with the young man who was used to nature and stone and the familiar. He could not deny the bit of excitement he felt for all the knew things he got to see, but there was also a pang of some kind of homesickness that he never expected to feel and longing for less developed land to wander through. The city lacked things to climb. Getting as high as he could and feeling the air brush against him had been one of the few joys left back home. There was some kind of irony in getting the chance at freedom he wanted and being denied the object of happiness he had had during his captivity.

Anger drained from auburn eyes as he looked at different things during his walk. There were a few places he passed that had delicious smells seeping out and drawing him in, but it was his lack of money that kept him from answering the siren call of delicious food. His flight had been paid for, and he had been told that the papers he had to keep with him during his trip had cost no small amount of money. It made him wonder if the two traitors had been given the same kinds of papers when they left or if they had to get things like that on their own. He had been told to use what bit of money he had for the trip sparingly. When Maxi had bought him food earlier, he had considered himself lucky. He had even considered staying there, but after seeing the other monk after so long away and everything that had happened... Xiba didn't want to stay with that man. He would use the rest of what he had to keep from staying with that man if he had to and he would do so gladly.

The teenager was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of yelling. His feet stopped and his head turned toward the sound, his rusty brow furrowing at the sight of three people standing around a car. Xiba wasn't too familiar with the inner workings of automobiles, but he had the feeling that something was wrong, possibly because the only male in the small group was cussing at the smoking hood of the vehicle.

The young monk was about to continue his aimless walking when one of the three happened to look over and notice him. The girl who had seen him then grabbed the guy she was with and said something to him. Seeing a tall, spikey haired guy have an argument with a short girl with curly pigtails who resembled a doll more than a person- and then lose said argument- brought a small smile to Xiba's face. It reminded him of some of his brothers and sisters back home. Knowing that some things didn't differ between the outside world was comfroting in a way. Familiar.

An exasperated growl pulled Xiba from that thought. He blinked dumbly as the tall guy ran across the empty street that had been separating his group from the lone, Chinese runt, "Hey!"

"...uh..." Xiba looked around, as though having to make sure the tall guy was talking to him. It wasn't like there was anyone else he could have been talking to. The rusty haired youth grinned, "Yeah?" No one in this new world had gone out of their way to talk to him before. It was pretty cool.

The tall guy returned the grin, though his held some reluctance, and a bit of nervousness, "We broke down, but our destination isn't too far from here. Mind helping us push it?" He didn't sound angry, but it was clear that the guy wasn't a fan of asking for help.

Auburn eyes looked the other guy over. He was easily taller than Xiba. He was Asian, which made the monk trust him more than he would have otherwise. The guy's skin was tanned and he was in better shape than a lot of the others Xiba had seen after leaving home, so the guy was active and probably spent time outside. He had on the same kind of stuff Xiba saw a lot of people wearing, black pants and white button-down shirt.

"Sure," Xiba shrugged. He hadn't really exercised properly since being sent out to talk to the traitor and the chance to actually do something was welcome.

The tall guy's smile lost all tension at the monk's answer, leaving a very open and carefree expression that shone through his grin and bright brown eyes, "Great! Let's go!" The guy waved at the Chinese kid to follow him before turning and heading back across the street. Xiba trailed behind, looking over the other two of the group as he got closer.

The doll like one had some kind of short, frilly dress on made of dark fabrics that belled at the sleeves. Her legs were covered by whtie stocking that disappeared into black boots. It wasn't a very childlike outfit and contradicted her young features in a vway that made the young man uneasy. Ther ewas an age in her wide, bright eyes that didn't fit in on her round face. A commanding presence that shouldn't have developed in a kid who looked younger than Xiba. Not even his brothers and sisters back home had that kind of calculating coldness to them. Zhang He did, though his was more intense than this kids. Having spent so much time with the possessed monk helped Xiba to not be intimidated by the child. He felt sorry for her. Whatever had made her that way, he felt sorry for her.

The last member of the three looked closer to Xiba's age than the doll's, and was unquestionably the more innocent of the two despite having lived longer. She wore clothing similar to the guy, but more girly looking; a better-fitted blouse and knee-length skirt instead of pants, and those shoes with the pointed heel that these women seemed fond of for reasons Xiba couldn't understand- how the Hell could she run in those? She was the only one with brown hair instead of some shade of red, and the inclusion of the young monk couldn't change that.

As the two men approached, the young woman looked relieved and the doll looked all too pleased with herself. She crossed her arms and proclaimed, "You two push and Talim will steer."

"yeah, yeah," the tall guy waved her words off, but took his position at the back of the car just the same.

Xiba followed, placing himself next to the other guy at the back of the car while the innocent girl got into the driver's seat. Xiba still wasn't sure exactly what was wrong with the car, but he figured at least one of the others knew what was going on with it. At least the hood had stopped smoking in the time it took him and the other guy to walk back across the street. Was that normal? The doll sat herself in the front passenger seat and had to stick her head out the window to yell at the other two to start pushing They did.

The car was a little smaller in size than the one Maxi had and ended up being lighter than the short Asian expected. He and the other guy had started off lsowly, but gained speed as they each realized that the other could handle it. They pushed the car for a while, from the spot on the- probably luckily for them- empty road, turning into a parking lot for some kind of large, abandoned, market with more than a few smaller ghost shops flanking it, across the parking lot, and, finally, into one of the many, many empty spaces around them.

Panting and wiping the sweat off his face, the spikey haired guy was the first to speak when the girls got out of the car, "The Hell is this? When you said 'into a spot', I thought you meant a closer one that _wasn't_ on the other side of the lot!"

The doll smiled sweetly, the innocence in the action obviously fake, and replied, "We were going to do that, but you had help pushing so I figured you could handle it without whining. I must have been wrong." She shrugged, amethyst looking the two men over, "Besides, you're lucky I didn't have you push it back to the office or all the way back home."

The guy opened his mouth to say something back, but the innocent brunette beat him to it, "Shouldn't we call for a tow truck now?"

Xiba watched the guy and the doll look at her, both seemingly forgetting she was even there until she spoke. Finally, the doll said, "I think I'd rather have them push it home."

"Amy," the brunette sighed, once again speaking before the tall guy could, "Don't be like that."

"No," the doll, Amy, crossed her arms and shook her head, "I don't feel like being here anymore."

Xiba, who had been listening, spoke to the girls for th efirst time, saying, "Is there food?" When he got three blank stares in the response, the Chinese kid elaborated with a grin, "If there's food, I'll push that thing anywhere. I'm starving!"

Abrupt laughter filled the air. Amy shook her head, wiping away a few tears that had come from laughing too hard and smiled with lips that were too red for a child at the monk, "See?" Her gaze slid from one Asian to the other, her good humor fading slightly in the process, "I told you the vegrant would help. I mean, look at him! He looks like-" her words stopped as sudden realization dawned. She covered her mouth, her eyes going wide and practically sparkling as she looked slowly back to Xiba, "He's like a stray puppy!"

"Dude," the tall guy looked at Xiba, to Amy, and back "You should run. Trust me. This chick is crazy."

"Huh" the monk knew he was missing something. Probably something important.

The brunette shook her head and sighed, "Both of you stop." She smiled at Xiba and said, "Sorry about them."

"And just _what," _Amy was quick to glare at the young woman, "Is _that_ supposed to mean?"

The look the brunette gave the doll reminded Ziba of how the women looked at some of the more petulent children. The comparison probably wasn't too far off. "How about we call a tow truck and a cab, then get something to eat. Sound good?"

"I suppose we could do that." Amy rolled her eyes before smiling at Xiba, "After all, feeding you is the least I can do to repay you for pushing the car as far as you did."

"Hey!" The spikey haired guy glared at the young girl, "I helped push, too!"

"Shut up." Amy rolled her eyes as she pulled a cell phone out of some pocket hidden in the mess of frills that made her dress and steadily ignored the guy's reply as she dialed a number.

Seeing people acting like that, so freely talking and smiling and glaring at each other without having to train or get yelled at and punished for not doing their chores, was so odd to Xiba. He welcomed the oddity of the scene, finding it preferable to his life back home. Sure, he had realized that old guys like Maxi could do what they wanted in this strange place, but seeing the same freedom for people closer to his own age struck a chord in the young monk. They weren't on a mission or sworn to some kind of sacred duty. They were free. If he could do as the Elders instructed, eh could be free, too. They had promised him that.

Suddenly, suffering through time with the traitor seemed worth it. He would hate it, but he would endure and be free from the strict rule of the Temple and the Elders and the Demon. That, he swore to himself, would happen.


	32. The Wrong Feelings

A/N: Barely finishing this in time (later than I would have liked). It seems as though I've caught up with myself. Hmm.

To the lovely ThalieXVII: I like Xiba, but I was so upset with what happened with Kilik's character in SCV that it carries into my writing sometimes. Mostly the replacement Kilik thing. I'm glad you like him, though and I was happy that someone in this story got to meet people and not have any ulterior motives about it. Also, thank you for catching my typo last chapter! xD

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

The Wrong Feelings

Silence filled the apartment after Xiba stormed. It hung in the air between the three men. Kilik felt as though he were caught under heavy rain that pounded against him with unrelenting force that soaked him, chilled him, to the core. He doubted any from the Temple would look favorably upon him, but to have such a reaction from _Xiba_ pained him. Staying there, standing in that room, was not something Kilik felt he could do. He didn't want either of the others to know how much that moment had hurt him. It was doubtful that either of them knowing would endanger the mission he, and now Xiba as well, had been sent on. That wasn't the reason. The reason was because Kilik knew he had done wrong in his past- he couldn't remember exactly what he had done, but he knew enough to know that both blades had been involved and he didn't doubt that he had hurt many of his brothers and sisters in the process- and that he deserved to suffer. Part of that suffering, that penance, was shouldering the pain from that life alone.

The look shining in stormy eyes that stared at the monk spoke volumes of recognition and understanding. To his credit, the pirate stayed silent about the pain he saw in his room mate. He didn't even make a comment when Kilik strode from the door way to their room without any further word, chocolate eyes cast forward and refusing to focus heavily on anyone around him. If Siegfried could tell that his employee was in a foul mood from the encounter, he didn't say anything. Kilik was grateful for the silence of both men. He hated it, _hated_ it when anyone tried to console him. There was no guarantee he wouldn't have said or done something to piss off or push away either man if they had done anything. The IT guy didn't want to lose either of them.

Locating new clothing did not take very long for the man who had long ago accepted- very willingly accepted- black slacks, white button down shirts, and black ties as his wardrobe. Few other things made it into Kilik's collection of clothing and the were almost all things from Maxi, save for the filthy rags of his childhood that he had kept for nostalgic reasons that the monk never openly addressed with himself or anyone else. The time Maxi inquired about it lead to trading blows. It had been one of their first bonding moments when, at the end, Kilik decided he could trust the pirate. People didn't fight like that if they didn't have something to fight for. The monk didn't know that the thing was, but he didn't need to know. He didn't want to know. He had never intended to get very close to the pirate. It was a lost battle. With a stern frown and the desire to stop bringing up sentimental memories or romantic ideals about other people, Kilik collected the clothing he was to wear and moved from his shared room to the bathroom. Distantly, part of him wondered where they would make room for Xiba. Most likely somewhere far away from Kilik. He couldn't blame the kid for that. He blamed Soul Edge and, more than the cursed blade, himself.

Growling, the monk slammed the bathroom door behind him. He did **not** need those thoughts. Xiba did not need him to be thinking those thoughts. Both monks needed Kilik to be focusing on his mission- something he had been worse and worse about with time until after Siegfried had been possessed. It was something he would have to do more. Before any of that, Kilik had to clear his head, most likely meditate whenever he got the chance in an attempt to sort through his feelings and decide how to best go about taking care of the demon without hurting Siegfried. The older monk realized that he might also have to explain to the younger one that killing the possessed man to drive the demon back to the shard of blade was **not** an option by any stretch of the imagination. It was hard to imagine Xiba as a murderer, but he had never imagined himself being where he was back when he was a child. Clearly, a lot could happen to change people with time. Kilik had been gone, unable to protect or teach Xiba, and he wasn't going to leave his boss' safety at the hands of the kid he had let down.

Wet heat poured down from the shower-head onto a trembling frame. Kilik could feel movement deep within his soul. Hungry beasts pacing, waiting for the moment when their prey was weakened, vulnerable, devour-able. Images of Xiba's face, of his anger, played out in a never ending loop between chocolate eyes and the eyelids that were meant to block such things out. It wasn't what he wanted to see. It wasn't what he needed to see. It was superfluous imagery designed to conquer him and it was working. Unacceptable.

The IT guy growled to himself, forcing his mind other places. Code. Lines and lines of code. He forced himself to start thinking about work, mentally going through what he would need to make different programs do different things and what he would have to the next day when he went back to work. It had been a long weekend. Maybe it would be a long work week as well. Kilik didn't know if that would be a blessing or a curse. It would make for a great distraction; one that he didn't need, but he wanted it. What made up the current system at work? How could he make it more secure. Those thoughts chased away the ones that were hounding him. Yes, that would be an interesting thing to create. His mind turned away from fortifying the company and towards attacking others. Lashing out in the only medium he could think of that would not physically hurt anyone. An intellectual punching bag or something similar.

Washing himself took much longer than it should have. Siegfried could wait. Getting food could wait despite the protesting growls of the monk's stomach. He let the warmth of the water force the tension out of his body with each drop that assaulted his skin. Kilik looked himself over as best he could while going through the motions of cleaning himself. With how terrible he had felt when first waking up in Siegfried's home, there should have been some lasting thing to show for it. Bruising, at the very least. He had nothing. Even his fever was gone. Only fatigue and hunger remained, both growing exponentially the moments he gave either the barest hint of attention. Whatever happened to him, whether done by either blade or both, had left his body tired and hungry. The brunette swayed on his feet in the shower.

A sudden wave of coldness licked up Kilik's spine when he cut off the flow of water. Goosebumps grew on his skin and a shiver rain through his body as he pulled back the shower curtain and grabbed a towel from the floor. It was more Maxi's style than his to use one from the floor instead of getting a fresh towel out of the small closet of the restroom, but Kilik couldn't bring himself to care too much. He had lines and strings and loops and the infinite possibilities of things he could create to occupy his mind and was steadily ignoring anything else. Paired with the action of drying himself off, the IT guy managed to calm himself down. By the time he wrapped the towel around his waist, he was no longer shaking and had reached a point of calm that only came from work or meditation.

Kilik wiped off the mirror with his hand just enough to see his reflection. His cheek had a scar on it. That was new. Other than that, he didn't look any younger or older, so the blades hadn't aged him in either direction. He wasn't even sure if they could do that. His hair was too long, but he had already known that. The monk was about to reach for the straight razor Maxi shaved with to cut his hair- the pirate probably wouldn't mind- and then stopped before his fingertips could so much as brush against it. He remembered Siegfried's voice, suddenly sounding much closer than it had been in the car.

"Too bad," the words were murmured into his ear from an unseen source, sending a shiver down his spine that had nothing to do with temperature, "I like it that way."

The monk pulled his hand away from the blade. Chocolate brown eyes closed- blessedly without being met with images again- and, for a moment, Kilik simply stood there. Water dropped from his hair to lazily travel down his shoulders, chest, and back, but it went unnoticed by the monk. He had grown much more vain in his time away from the Temple where he grew up, it was true, but the thought of keeping his hair a certain way- a way that he wasn't fond of- because someone had said they liked it wasn't something Kilik did. Ever. Except, this time, it wasn't just someone saying it. It was Siegfried.

A knock at the door interrupted the monk before his thoughts go travel further down that road. He looked toward the door, brown eyes blinking, "Just a moment." His voice was too quiet. He wasn't sure why.

Either the one who knocked hadn't heard the response, or hadn't cared, because the door opened. As Maxi stepped in, closing the bathroom door behind him so he could lean on it and stare at his room mate- arms crossed and a single black brow raised in silent question- Kilik figured it was probably the latter. The Chinese man waited for his room mate to start speaking. He wasn't going to start the conversation that Maxi seemed to want to have. Honestly, Kilik didn't know what there was to talk about. Other than Xiba. He didn't want to talk about Xiba. It had taken long enough to stop thinking about the kid, there was no reason to bring him back up. Apparently, Maxi disagreed.

"What was that about?" The pirate's voice didn't hold any judgment one way or the other. For the first time since they had met, Kilik honestly couldn't tell what Maxi was feeling about the situation. That his room mate could do that was concerning. It meant that either Kilik was in worse shape that he had assumed, or Maxi had been able to control his emotions since the two met and never bothered to before. It meant that he felt the need to hold in his emotions. It meant that the situation was important to the taller man somehow.

Kilik crossed his arms, staring evenly at the black-haired man who looked so casual against the door, arms and ankles crossed as his stormy gaze met the answering chocolate orbs of the monk who said, "You're being rude."

"You're the one who left your guest standing awkwardly in the door way to hide in the shower." The anger than Kilik might have expected to show in Maxi's voice was not there. There was nothing there to gauge what the pirate was feeling or how Kilik should react to it.

That, in and of itself, was frustrating to the monk, but he didn't let it show in his voice as he replied, "Better than barging in on a man who is hiding in the shower. This question can't wait until I have pants on?"

"If you want to put pants on," Maxi uncrossed his arms to hold them up an inviting manner, "Be my guest." They recrossed almost immediately after as he continued speaking, "Not that you have anything I've never seen before." Gray eyes traveled from Kilik's feet to his face, unnerving the monk in a way his room mate's gaze never had before. Stormy eyes narrowed at something on the monk's features and Kilik had a feeling he knew why before Maxi said, "Except that scar. What happened to you?"

Shrugging, the brunette addressed the new question to avoid the one he had first been asked, "I had an accident. Siegfried helped me get better. It doesn't matter." His voice was as neutral as Maxi's. Two could play at that game, and Kilik had the feeling that he could do it better.

The pirate frowned, "It does matter." His voice betrayed him for the first time since the conversation began, a thread of anger weaving into his words. "Believe it or not, _runt_, I give a shit about you!"

The Japanese man only called his room mate that when he was especially displeased with him. It made Kilik wonder just how long Xiba and Maxi had been around each other and what had been said to cause this. Had Xiba turned Maxi against him? The thought made Kilik feel a knot form in his intestines. What had the two of them said to each other? Did Xiba say anything about their mission? Did Maxi think both Kilik and his brother were crazy? Maxi must have seen what happened when Xianglin was hauled away. He had shown up the moment after it had happened. There was no denying that Kilik and his sister looked enough alike in their dress and features for Maxi to surmise that they had come from the same place or, at least, belonged to the same group. Perhaps he had taken in the young monk because he was worried about what might happen to a probably crazy kid on his own. Perhaps he regretted that choice. They had lived together for so long without incident. Had that been ruined? Another knot contorted its way into existence within the IT guy at the thought.

"Don't," Kilik murmured. He wasn't sure what he even meant or if he was talking to his room mate or himself when he said it. The brunette tried again, louder, "There is nothing to worry about." He had lied to his room mate before, but it was harder than it had ever been before.

There was no logical reason for the sudden difficulty in lying. It wasn't even an important one. Really, Maxi had nothing to worry about. If anything happened to Kilik, the worst that the pirate would have to go through was finding another room mate. Hell, the Japanese actor didn't need someone else for the rent. Kilik's main purpose in the other man's life was letting him in when he locked himself out or dragging his ass home after too many drinks. There were other people Maxi could get for that. He had no reason to worry about Kilik's well being.

A small voice murmured to the monk that it was more than that. That, as much as Kilik wanted to deny it, they held a place in each other's hearts. The two men had bonded over the years. They were friends. Family. If one of them needed help, the other would do so without question. Kilik knew that he could not deny that he had grown too attached to Maxi over the years, but it had never before occurred to him how much Maxi had grown to like and care for him. It was unsettling, the way people wormed their way into each other's hearts and, in return, had people burrow into their own emotional centers. The whole concept of feelings was so absurd and confusing to the monk. Life would be simpler for everyone if they didn't have to factor into an equation. If they didn't force their way into everything.

Maxi pushed away from the door and crossed the small distance that had separated him from his short room mate, "Don't say that." The pirate loomed over the IT guy, a frown set firmly on his features as he glared daggers down at the smaller man, "You went missing for days, Kilik! You don't answer your phone! You're late calling me back! You could have been hurt! Or dead! Or dying!"

Seeing Maxi angry was better than seeing him and not knowing what he was feeling. The pirate was the kind of man who often- too often- wore his emotions on his sleeve and to see him as anything else was unsettling to the monk. At least anger was something Kilik knew. It was in the open. It could be dealt with. It was also a surprise, in a way. He figured Maxi would be upset with him for those things, but not to the extent he was seeing. Kilik wasn't upset. He didn't glare back in the face of rage. Calm chocolate eyes stared up at the stormy gray that had darkened considerably. If it had been the sky he was looking at, Kilik would not have been surprised to see lighting flash or to hear the thunder or feel the onslaught of freezing rain.

"But I'm not." The IT guy tried to appeal to his friend's- they shouldn't have ever been close enough to be friends- sense of reason, "I'm fine. There was and still is nothing to worry about."

Strong hands grabbed the monk by the shoulders. It was unexpected. Kilik trusted Maxi enough to not force the other man to let go of him, despite the strength of the fingertips digging into his skin. The brunette still trusted his hot-tempered friend to not do anything too stupid. He remained calm, continuing to gaze into the chaotic storm of the pirate's eyes. Slight vibrations being sent down his shoulders into the rest of him told the monk that Maxi was shaking better than looking at him could have. He could practically feel the thunder and lightening. There was something else Kilik could feel thrumming between his skin and that of his room mate at the contact. Darkness. Soul Edge. While the monk had been cleaning himself and dealing with his own emotions, he had left Siegfried- Nightmare- out there. With Maxi. The cursed blade had gotten to the Japanese pirate and, while Maxi wasn't completely possessed, the blade had done something to him. Kilik could feel it.

"No!" Maxi gave the smaller man a shake, "If I lose you, I lose all that's left of my family!"

Kilik went very still. He knew that the other man could see the regret in his eyes. Even if his expressions didn't show in his eyes, Maxi should have been able to see it. He should have been able to know that the IT guy would never purposeful harm his room mate if it were not necessary. At least, not seriously harm.

The monk's hands lifted slowly, so as not to startled the man who had been tainted by the blade, "Maxi..." As gently as he could, Kilik cupped the larger man's face, "I'm sorry." He wasn't sure if Maxi knew what he was apologizing for, but it didn't matter. He closed his eyes, focusing himself, "I am so sorry."

Ice filled his veins for a moment that felt much longer than it really was as Kilik focused and sought out the taint in his room mate. There wasn't much. Soul Edge was playing at something, and Kilik didn't know what, but he could figure that out after doing what he had to do. The monk easily purified the darkness in Maxi's soul. He felt the hands at his shoulder's grip harder before going slack. Maxi's face slid out of Kilik's fingertips as the larger man collapsed to the ground like a puppet that just had its strings cut.

"Touching." A voice at the doorway brought Kilik's attention away from the black haired man on the floor and towards the blonde standing just outside the bathroom. The monk hadn't even noticed the door opening.

Bright red eyes traveled, agonizingly slowly, down Kilik's form and then back up. It felt like nails dragging along his skin, touching just enough to send shivers of sensation through his body, but so little that he had to question whether or not they were really there. The monk could feel a pull deep within him, the part of Soul Edge buried there, but it was subdued in the face of the purification the monk had just done. Nightmare must have known exactly what feelings were coursing through the brunette's body, because red eyes narrowed in amusement and a haughty grin grew on Siegfreid's face.

Kilik's fists clenched as he steadily ignored his body, "Maxi is off limits."

Nightmare rose a brow, his grin widening, "You think to tell **me** what is and is not within **my **limits?"

"Maxi," the monk repeated, "Is off limits."

"What about the boy he was telling me about? Is he off limits as well, worm?" The demon laughed, stepping into the room.

Reflexively, the monk moved forward to put himself between the demon and the unconscious form of his room mate. It put him closer to the demon than he would have liked. Either man could have reached out and touched the other. He didn't doubt that it was part of some grand design by the demon, but he couldn't figure out why. He was, however, as ready as he could have been to attempt to purify the demon then and there if need be. At least, purify it enough to let Siegfried take control again until Kilik could get the demon out without murdering his boss.

"The boy is none of your concern." Brown eyes glared defiantly at the demon, daring it to do anything to provoke the smaller man.

Slowly, the demon's hands rose to copy the pose Kilik had just been in with Maxi. How the demon had even seen that was a mystery to the monk. For all he knew, Nightmare hadn't seen and the pose was a coincidence. Not likely. It could have been that the demon watched the world through Maxi's eyes. The thunder in the background that Kilik had expected but couldn't quite hear. Moving would have put Maxi in the demon's path again, and that was not an option. The fingertips on either side of his face had yet to touch the skin, but the monk could feel energy between his skin and the borrowed skin of his boss. It was like pinpoints along his face.

"He doesn't have to be," the demon murmured, his eyes locking with the monk's, "If something else merits my attention, I could be persuaded to leave the child be. He isn't like you. His body wouldn't be able to withstand this little game of ours."

Kilik frowned, "We are not playing a game!" He would not believe that so much pain could come from something as frivolous as a game, despite the whispers of both blades that asked him what existence was if not an elaborate game of Go?

The demon continued to murmur and, for the first time, Kilik held no malice in his voice. Only a resignation that the monk had never expected from the chaotic demon, "Soul Calibur and I are."

It was a trick. It had to be. The demon was trying to get his defenses down, that was what Kilik told himself. He repeated it to himself as he asked, "Then why play?"

"To win," the demon purred. The feeling of electricity jumping between their skin intensified, warming Nightmare's fingertips and Kilik's face as the demon said, "If you want to keep the boy off our field of play, you and I have much to discuss."

Before Kilik could response in any way, the short distance between their skin closed. The sudden jolt forced a gasp from the monk. It was the opening the demon needed. Nightmare crushed his lips against the monk's and slid his tongue into the other man's mouth. They could both feel the demon's taint and the holy blade's presence surge inside of the monk's frame, dragging a sound caught between a scream and a moan from the brunette. Kilik's hands moved to press against the possessed man's chest to push him away, but never went through with the action. The monk's tongue betrayed him, actively moving against the appendage in his mouth before sliding into that of his boss. Just as quickly as it had happened, everything receded leaving Kilik suddenly bereft of anything to respond to outside of the lips assaulting his own.

The two pulled away from each other and blinked. Siegfried let go of Kilik's face and backed away a couple paces, obviously not knowing when or how he had gotten into that position. Sky blue eyes took in the sight of Kilik in only a towel- perhaps they took it in a little too much- the bathroom that would have been uncomfortably cool if the brunette hadn't been feeling warmer than usual, and the collapsed form of Maxi that stay on the ground, unmoving. Blue eyes then looked to brown, silently asking questions and getting no answers.

Kilik ignored his boss as he gathered and put on his clothing. Staying calm was all he could do to keep the situation from getting worse. Siegfried said nothing as Kilik made himself decent. The monk was the first between them to speak, saying, "We can talk over dinner."

The monk wasn't sure if he was talking to Siegfried or the demon that lurked under the other man's skin, but he figured it didn't matter. He wanted to have words with both and, at that point, whichever he spoke to first wasn't too important. Kilik strode passed a very confused Siegfried and made for the door. Shortly after, he heard Siegfried moving behind him, following him.


	33. The Anger

A/N: Oh, look. I'm alive again. Sorry. I'll try to get back to one chapter a week and I'll see what I can do about writing a side story for you guys to make up for my absence. Enjoy?

To the lovely ThalieXVII: Thanks for the PM and the concern! I'm fine; this season just rubs me wrong. This chapter probably wasn't worth the ridiculous wait, but its got a lot of words and insight into what Siegfried's thinking. I hope you enjoy it.

To the lovely 1wngdngl: I love Maxi and Kilik's friend/familyship thing. Also, Kilik would have to have veggie-burgers, but Sieggy would love hamburger night. I think I'm going to do that. X3

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or any of the characters therein.

The Anger

Just before he was dragged into darkness and stillness and silence, Siegfried had seen it coming. As though knowing something was wrong with his employee and that it must have had something to do with his younger brother and probably the demon Kilik believed he had, wasn't bad enough, Siegfried had felt it coming. Sliding up places inside of him that science and medicine and biology had no names for- no knowledge of- came the familiar feeling, the force of slipping away or, rather, of being pulled. Dragged down by invisible tendrils that wrapped around his limbs. The German had thought he was getting better at fighting the feeling and keeping the darkness at bay but he realized with sickening resignation that he had been wrong as he was dragged downward. He had been wrong.

Paralyzed in a never-ending existence of inky warmth that seemed to cover and consume him, Siegfried had only his thoughts for company. Despite his best efforts, those thoughts always circled around his father, landing and picking at the clear concept of Frederick's corpse that both was and wasn't a picture painted before the blonde's blue, blue eyes. He knew, _knew_, what he was- should have been- looking at. Every minute detail. Every hair and feature and imperfection and the exact size and shape of his father, still much too pale and laid out in the open casket, dressed in his favorite suit. His brain was yelling at his eyes that they should be seeing the picture, supplying the information with the kind of detail that came from trauma. Yes, seeing his old man like that- his strong, pain in the ass old man- looking frail, as though a harsh breeze could rend him to dust that would be blown away, had been traumatic for the German man. Still, his eyes saw nothing but darkness before them. The dichotomy between what he saw and should have seen but didn't made the surviving Schauffen sick. If his body could have moved, he knew he would be vomiting.

The buzzards that made up Siegfried's thoughts circled and landed and picked little bits and pieces off of the body, greedily swallowing them down as though dead man was a delicacy that they hadn't had in far too long. Nothing was going to go to waste here. Every bite from the phantom birds at the body that did and did not exist was a memory replaying before the German. Memories of being smaller than his father had expected him to be at his age. Short. Chubbier than he should have been as a young child. Working to change that had made him thinner, but he wasn't as filled out as his father would have liked. Achieving the body his father wanted for him changed nothing; not while Siegfried's accomplishments were so pathetic. No sports records. No excelling in school. He was not the son his father had wanted and he never would be. He was not fit to carry on his family's proud name. Siegfried never had a girlfriend that his father approved of. The only girl he had ever found who stood a chance at meeting his father's requirements never had the chance to meet the man because of his father's stark refusal to talk to his son before he died. His failure son who didn't deserve to inherent the family business.

Sadly for Frederick, Siegfried thought with the knowledge that he would have been scowling if he could move his face at all beyond the slack and relaxed expression it probably held, there was no one else for the business to go to if it was to remain in the family name. The older Schauffen was a slave for things like that; family and lineage and having strong sons to pass their names and keep the blood line going. It was all a little too old-worldy for Siegfried's tastes. Those days were over. It didn't matter anymore who came from what parents. Except, it did to Frederick. Siegfried had the sneaking suspicion it mattered to people like Raphael and the platinum haired woman from England. Bits of that trip flashed before him, but absolutely none of it was familiar; it was more akin to looking at the world through someone else's eyes and trying to make sense of what was happening with only a blurred fraction of the event to go off of. Those old-world things had mattered to his last girlfriend. It was the driving force behind her agreeing to go on their first date. The German liked to tell himself that all dates after that were because she genuinely liked him, but there was that nagging thought that told him she was acting out of that same traditionalist crap he had been trying to get away from. She wasn't interested in him. She was interested in his father and his father's father and his father's father's father. If he hadn't broken things off with her right after he had heard the news, if she had met the old man before he passed, maybe she would have left him. She probably would have left him. Maybe even for his father. They could have been happy together. Or not. Siegfried didn't want to think about it and he didn't want to care.

A sudden pushing catapulted the German away from his thoughts and back into his body as he knew it. Foggy vision cleared slowly, at odds with the suddenness with which feeling returned. There was a slight pressure on his chest and something in his... was he making out with someone? He should have pulled away immediately, but the blonde man found himself lingering for half a moment. Slowly pulling away revealed that the source of the taste on his tongue was his IT guy. Siegfried took a step back, putting some distance between him and the brunette as ginger and sage and a hint of cinnamon lingered on his tongue.

While it was true that he had thought about doing more than kissing to his employee and that he honestly enjoyed what had just happened, it was disturbing in a way. A very what-just-happened-while-I-was-blacked-out sort of way. Things were not helped by Kilik's state of undress. Sky blue took in the whole image before starting again- bottom to top- looking down at Kilik's bare feet, up his legs- he was unsure if he was upset or grateful for the towel the Asian was wearing- up his stomach and chest- going just a bit more slowly for that moment- and resting on the brunette's collar bone and neck for a brief heartbeat before finishing at chocolate brown eyes. There were little things that had caught his eyes. Landmarks in the form of old scars on a map created from years of experiences that the German could only guess at. Siegfried's mouth was dry.

Something in the way Kilik moved as he ignored the taller of the two and dressed himself was almost unsettling. If it had been anyone else, Siegfried would have said that was something spiteful about the sudden disinterest from a man he had been making out with; but it was the IT guy. The pain in the ass, sarcastic, innocent- if not repressed to the point of near asexuality- dodgy and apparently

impossible to get close to if he isn't half awake or drugged- or both- IT guy.

"We can talk over dinner."

Just like that, the Asian was moving passed Siegfried and to the door. As though nothing important had happened. Maybe it hadn't. There was a slight stirring within at the words, but the blonde man pushed it away and steadily ignored it.

Without the distraction of his employee, the bathroom suddenly seemed larger or emptier. At first, Siegfried thought he was alone. Then, he saw Maxi. An unconscious pirate should have been more noticeable than that. Sky blue narrowed, watching for signs of movement. The steady rise and fall of the pirate's chest was all Siegfried needed to know. Whatever had happened, he wouldn't find out from standing there staring and he didn't want to wake Maxi and ask. Part of him reasoned it was because Maxi didn't know Siegfried had blackouts like Kilik did. Another part snorted at the thought. It knew better. Siegfried knew better. Whatever happened, from the position of the pirate and how Siegfried had woken up, could not have been his doing and he wanted to hear Kilik's side of the story first. Maybe that was foolish. Foolish, but true. With a small sigh at where life had lead him, Siegfried turned and left the bathroom.

Kilik lead him out of the apartment and locked the door behind them. Then the pair crossed the distance from the door to Siegfried's car in silence. The beat up old girl never looked so welcoming in her life. If he was going to be stuck with questions- something that happened with increasing frequency- he may as well be surrounded by the comforting feel of a well-worn driver seat and some classic rock. Kilik didn't even make a face or comment about the music. Not that he ever did, but Siegfried could tell from the way the other man never got into it- even the really good songs- that his IT guy wasn't a fan. It was added to the list of reasons why Siegfried shouldn't like Kilik. If any reason would put an end to whatever the hell was going on between them, it should have been that, but nothing changed. Maybe knowing that someone's taste in music is wrong and wanting to be around them- _with _them- anyways was the sign of true love.

That thought wasn't normal. Siegfried growled in protest of the traitorous thing as he started the engine. Serious brown eyes slid toward him as he backed out of the space, either silently asking what was wrong or studying him. It was too damn hard to tell in a way that made Siegfried frown. No, love couldn't be right. That that word kept creeping into his thoughts was an annoyance. It had to stop.

"I don't love you," the German growled as he maneuvered the car out of the parking lot.

Saying it out loud should have helped. The speed at which narrowed eyes shifted away from him and out the window and the twitch of a deep frown that flashed in Siegfried's peripheral vision before Kilik's head turned away made something in his gut hurt. Siegfried realized that the words had done absolutely nothing to help anything.

The programmer's words weren't as harsh as Siegfried would have expected. Instead, they were soft and too quiet to be coming from the man who usually had some kind of aggressive quip ready to go. He repeated his words, "We can talk over dinner."

No more words. No more thinking about things. Just driving. Driving was what Siegfried should focus on. He did his damnedest to just concentrate on driving and the music from his radio. They were playing shit, or maybe it was his mood. Kissing one's hot employee was not supposed to be so lame. A dissatisfied grunt issued itself from Siegfried's throat. Kilik didn't react. A blue eye twitched and the German's grip on the steering wheel became white-knuckled for the rest of the trip. They ended up at the diner they had gone to the last time they ate together.

Neither of the two spoke when they got out of the car. Kilik was his usual hard to read self and Siegfried was bothered either by the realization that maybe he did _feel _for his employee or because of how hard it was to gauge whether or not the other man was upset. Maybe both. They did not speak when they walked in and found a table to sit at. Nor would either of them have spoken if it weren't for the waiter- some scrawny brunette kid who looked like the slightest breeze would knock him over- came over with a joyful greeting and huge smile. Siegfried stared blankly up at him. Kilik didn't bother looking anywhere but straight ahead at Siegfried with a similarly blank expression. The kid- easily as tall as Siegfried if not more so- frowned slightly and told them he'd be back for their drink orders before hurrying off.

"Alright," Siegfried's voice broke the silence, "Talk." He wasn't in the mood for talks or emotional shit or any backlash from kissing his IT Guy. Not that it seemed to matter to the Asian. Not even a look back after he had gotten dressed. Hell, the slight blush had faded before he had even gotten out of the bathroom once his clothes were on. Asshole.

Kilik blinked at the man across from him twice. Slowly. There were words swimming behind his eyes, but Siegfried didn't know the other man well enough to read them. Not really. Not as fast as they were appearing and disappearing. Siegfried didn't know whether he wanted to growl or hit the other man or just drag him across the table and kissing him again- while being awake the entire time. That last one was more appealing than it should have been. Emotions were exhausting sometimes. Usually. Always.

"You're upset." Kilik didn't seem to be sarcastic or surprised. Just a general statement.

If the booth they were sitting at hadn't been bolted to the floor, Siegfried would have thrown it at the smaller man. "Yes. I am. What happened back there?" There were questions in those words that Siegfried did not vocalize. Why did you kiss me? Why doesn't it matter to you? Why does it matter to me? What did you do to Maxi? He wasn't sure if he should- could- ask them. It wasn't supposed to matter as much as it did. Maxi was still alive and, by the looks of things, just asleep. As for those damned feelings... They weren't things that the German was familiar with and he wasn't about to admit that out-loud. It was too close to a form of weakness. At least, it felt that way. Hurting over some stupid fucking kiss that his stupid fucking IT guy didn't stupidly fucking return was for stupid fucking women. Not Siegfried Schauffen. His father would have been rolling in his grave if he knew his son was being so pathetic.

The difference between Kilik's calm, blank expression and everything that leaked through his eyes was almost dizzying. At least it was proof that the Asian was human. Or, at least, as human as Asians could be. A deep inhale and slow exhale later and Kilik spoke, "Do you still not believe me?" His voice was still infuriatingly neutral. He didn't even have the decency to be angry. To give Siegfried a reason to be angry.

"What?" The head of the Schauffen house growled. He resisted the urge to rub his temples, choosing instead to allow the headache he know was on its way to grow in his head.

The waiter returned, either oblivious to the tensions between the two men or steadily and fantastically ignoring it, "Have you guys figured out what you want to drink yet?"

"Water and coffee for both of us, please," Kilik said calmly, looking at the waiter for the first time since they got there. He wasn't smiling, but he didn't look as upset as Siegfried. Asshole.

The waiter glanced over at Siegfried, who gave a small nod, and then grinned, "Great. I'll be right back with that."

Once the stick-figure of a kid was gone, Kilik explained, still infuriatingly calm, "About the demon. Do you honestly still not believe he exists?"

"Its a 'he' now?" Siegfried snorted. He wanted to say that, no, he did not believe in demons because that was something that crazy people did, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. It wasn't just the blacking out, it was the weird thoughts that slithered between the normal ones and the images that played behind his eyes more clearly than he had ever been able to remember anything like that and the darkness and doubt and thoughts of his father and Hilde and so many little things that had to have an explanation. A demon was as good an explanation as any other. He could only deny it for so long, after all. Blame his father, blame stress, blame everything that led nowhere. At least blaming a demon gave him something more concrete to hate and fight against. Things were easier when he could hate and fight and have a solid target. Of course, that realization brought another thought that made the German's frown deepen, "So you weren't kissing me. You were kissing the demon. You stopped when it was me."

"You're the one who stepped back first," Kilik replied, quietly. That ghost of a blush was back, easing some of Siegfried's anger. It wasn't fair for anyone to look like that. Not quite adorable, but somehow... soft? Unsure? Fucking virgins. The brunette continued, "I could have exorcized it then. Or even before them, at your house when you were sleeping. There were opportunities that I did not take."

Unexpected was an understatement. That Kilik had known about the demon before Siegfried made sense, in a way. Siegfried hadn't even believed it. He still had doubts. That Kilik had known and hadn't helped him, hadn't gotten rid of the demon... What the fuck? "So you decided to, what? Tell me about the demon, make me promise to let you try something that you could have done and didn't fucking feel like?" A blue eye twitched. It didn't make sense. Why get so damned annoying about helping him if he wasn't going to help him? Did he decide he'd rather have the fucking demon around than Siegfried? Dammit.

For the first time since Siegfried had been thrown out of the darkness, he saw anger on the smaller man's face in the narrowing of his eyes and the crease of his brow. The frown of his lips that was straightened back into an indifferent line, probably when he caught himself betraying how he felt. That Siegfried had been able to say or do anything to crack through and see his employee acting like a normal fucking person and not some mystical Asian monk or something unfurled something in the German's gut. It made him feel better to know that he wasn't the only one upset. Hurting. He didn't even know why he was hurting about so much stupid shit. He doubted Kilik knew, either.

When he replied, Kilik's voice was sharper than Siegfried expected it to be. The subdued, quiet words were replaced by something that was too raw to be the brunette's usual tone. It was impossible to tell what the smaller man was thinking- which was a pain in the ass- but that sound made it easier to guess what he was feeling; nothing good. "I was worried."

"Worried?" Siegfried repeated lowly. He rolled his eyes, "Of course you were. You wanted to purify the demon enough to make me promise to let you, except you could have and didn't because you were worried." He crossed his arms, "That doesn't sound bat-shit insane at all." Maybe he meant he was worried about the demon. Throwing the table was sounding better and better as an option.

The waiter showed up and set their drinks down. Instead of saying anything to the fuming Asian or the openly glaring German, he just gave them a smile and walked away. Smart man. Not that either of them would have taken it out on the poor kid. At least, Siegfried knew that he wasn't going to direct his anger anywhere than where he felt it needed to go- at the fucking demon and his fucking IT guy. He doubted Kilik would blow up at the stick-figure. He wasn't even blowing up at Siegfried. Starting to, but not quite there yet. It would be easier if he did.

Once the young man was gone, Kilik continued their conversation, "While I was in the shower, the demon took over." Stating the obvious. "He then infected Maxi. I don't know exactly what happened, but he did." There was that frown again, the one that Kilik seemed to be trying to hard to keep off his face. He was failing pretty horribly at that. The IT guy shook his head, "I shouldn't have left you alone." Before Siegfried could yell at him to get to the point, Kilik did, "Maxi was on the floor like that when you woke up because I purified him. What the demon did was taken care of. It wasn't much and Maxi's a tough man. He'll sleep for a while and he'll probably hurt when he wakes up, but he'll survive."

"So?" Blue eyes narrowed, trying to see the connection. Kilik's thoughts were weird in how they jumped from one thing to the next. Keeping up was annoyingly difficult sometimes.

"Those people," the brunette replied quietly. It probably would have been hard to hear if Siegfried didn't have a demon augmenting things. Nevertheless, Siegfried had to strain to hear Kilik as he spoke. "All those people at Ravensharp."

"Stop." It didn't take a genius to know where that was going- even with Kilik's crazy thought-jumping- and it wasn't anywhere near anything Siegfried wanted to deal with. He shook his head, "Just. Stop." Maybe it was cowardly to not want to know. He had been curious before. He had even been eager to hear about what had happened with the hope that he might hear it wasn't his fault. Siegfried realized that it probably was his fault, in a way. If the demon had managed to do something to those people, it would have been his fault; but he also realized that it wouldn't just be him. Kilik wouldn't have lead up to that event from Maxi if it was all Siegfried. The oldest living Schauffen did not want to know in that moment. "Food first."

A different kind of furrowing of the brow and frown from the Asian, the kind that spoke more of confusion than annoyance- and it was good to know that he could have the same effect on the brunette that the brunette could have on him in that regard to being caught off balance by things. "You wanted me to talk."

"I did," Siegfried said as he picked up his coffee and took a sip. It burned his mouth and down his throat, which was good and calming and enough to keep him from seeing if he really could throw the table at the other man. Yes, he had wanted Kilik to talk. He had also been pissed when they walked into the place. He was still angry, but he had calmed enough to know that he didn't really want Kilik to talk. Didn't really want to know. He had seen all he really needed to see from the Asian- that Kilik did _feel _things; for him or the demon, it didn't matter anymore- and he didn't need any more. At least, not without some time to... to anything. Just dealing with shit. There was a lot for Siegfried to do. A lot he had been doing. "I don't right now. Right now, we're getting food. You can be an emotional little girl when we're done."

"An emotional little girl?" Kilik repeated, taking one of the two straws that had been left with their waters and coffee, carefully taking the paper off. "I'm not the emotional one," he said, his voice sounding more like its usual sarcastic tone as he started working the paper with his fingers.

Siegfried watched the thin white paper being manipulated, almost thoughtlessly, by the man across from him with a snort, "So you don't deny being a little girl?" That. Right there. Calming, normal things between them.

Instead of being insulted, Kilik gave a small shrug and held up what he had folded the straw paper into: a little flower. He stuck the flower in his hair and said, "I'd be a prettier girl than you anyways." More than the words themselves, it was the straight face and almost deadpan delivery given by a serious man with a little flower sticking out of his hair that forced back the last bits of Siegfried's volatile emotions from before.

It was almost unfair to be robbed off a perfectly good fight before it began. It was probably for the best. He didn't need to get kicked out of- and banned from- a perfectly good restaurant because of something like a stupid kiss. Except, he knew it wasn't just that. It was everything. The thought that he might have fallen in love with someone he hadn't known for very long. The thought of that person returning those feelings- but not really. Kissing someone else. Siegfried might not have been overly romantic and he might not have been too touchy-feely about things, but he was well aware that he was a jealous kind of guy if he perceived something to be his. He perceived Kilik to be his IT guy, his employee, his friend, his. His. It was thinking about the last time he gave a shit about people outside of himself and how that had worked out for him. It ended badly. He wasn't about to let that repeat. Except, without his consent, the ball had already started rolling on that one. Too bad Siegfried couldn't stay angry. That would have been easier.

Kilik took the second straw without much regard to the fact that, technically, it was Siegfried's- not that the German would have used it, but still. Once again, the paper was removed and folded carefully by dexterous fingers that seemed as at home folding paper as they were at typing or whatever it was Kilik did at work all day. Siegfried shook his head, "You're the reason I'm racist."

"What?" Chocolate eyes glanced up from the paper to meet the sky-like gaze of his boss before returning to his task.

Siegfried smirked, shrugging slightly, "If you weren't a living stereotype, it wouldn't be an issue. With your ory-gamy and shit." He purposefully said the word wrong, just to annoy the man sitting across from him.

Judging from the roll of soft brown eyes, it worked. "Its calming," he growled quietly at the man across from him.

"Calming?" Siegfried repeated, lifting a single golden brow, "Because you look so calm."

"Yes," Kilik's eyes narrowed and he threw the now-finished flower at his boss, "Calming."

Siegfried laughed. The flower had bounced off of his chest and landed in his lap. He pocketed the small thing with one hand while stealing another sip of his coffee with the other. After putting the cup down, he said, "Of course it is."


	34. The Compromised Position

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or the characters therein.

The Compromised Position

Perplexing was the best word Kilik could think of to describe his night with Siegfried. The monk tried not to let his feeling get in the way of his duty, but he was a repeat offender on that subject. He didn't know what he had been expecting from his boss, but so much anger wasn't on the list. Kilik's first thought was that the demon had something to do with it, but that didn't make sense. Nothing the demon had done in the last few hours had made much sense, in all honesty. Still, Kilik had been planning what he would say the entire car ride and he knew that he would have to go through with it. If he was going to be able to protect Siegfried from the demon, he would have to be honest about a few things that he had been hoping he wouldn't have to tell the other man. There were things- so many things- he didn't want Siegfried to know. Fate seemed to have other plans. Fate always had other plans.

At the point when Kilik knew it was time to say something, he had opened with asking if Siegfried even believed. Whatever had made the German change his stance and address the demon as a serious thing was a blessing. Maxi was the next easiest thing to talk about; the perfect way to set up what he was getting at. It would serve to give a frame of reference. One side of the scale. The events at Ravensharp showed the other side. The dangerous side of purification. That was the moment Kilik was not looking forward to. He didn't want to tell Siegfried about the other blade- Soul Calibur- but the price of omitting was taking the blame and the weight of what happened on his shoulders. It wasn't something Kilik was fond of, but he knew that it would sound better than fighting one evil blade with a not-evil blade that bore stunning resemblance to the first evil blade. The part where Siegfried had stopped him had been a surprise, but it was one that Kilik was thankful for. He didn't want to think about that moment and he wanted even less to talk about it with his boss.

Somehow, things had gotten easier after that. Siegfried seemed to have decided that he was sick of being upset over whatever it was he had been upset about- which Kilik honestly couldn't figure out, but that it had something to do with his boss' firm statement of not loving him was obvious enough. That had hurt. Kilik didn't let too many into his heart. Zhang He. Xiba. Xanlian. Maxi. Siegfried. Of everyone he had known in his life, those were the only five to make the list. Two of them had been stolen from him by the evil blade. He didn't want to lose another. At the same time, Kilik was not going to push the subject in the hopes of forcing Siegfried to feel anything for him. It was not his place to do that to the other man. Instead, he had focused on watching the things out the window and choosing what he was going to say whenever they started talking. Siegfried moved on from whatever had been upsetting him, so Kilik decided that he would do so as well. Just ignore the pain from that moment. Ignore the anger from Siegfried's words that cut and stung with implications that Kilik didn't care or, worse, that he wanted the demon around. That he didn't want to help Siegfried. It wasn't like that. There were reasons- so many reasons- for what made Kilik do the things he had done. Somehow, he got the feeling that Siegfried would understand none of them and accept even less.

Those moments were done. They had passed. Siegfried was moving on and Kilik was not going to be the one to dwell on it. Instead, he focused on making flowers. It was a trick that Maxi had shown him, and Kilik had found since that day that it did wonders on calming him when he needed it. That said, he was not above pretending that the German had never said anything in the car and that the blonde haired, blue eyed, strong enough to not be completely taken by the demon, understands his humor and throws words back at him, warm and safe feeling in a way Kilik can't understand in words man across from him might understand- _return_-thethings that Kilik felt. The brunette even went so far as to make each of them a flower. His method of giving it to his boss was less than gentle or romantic, but Siegfried didn't seem the type to need that. Kilik wasn't good at those types of things anyway.

By the time they had actually ordered food- another salad for Kilik and another mostly raw burger for Siegfried- neither of them were frowning. Neither of them were angry. The monk wasn't sure how that had happened, but he was glad for it. Their talk would have to be finished eventually, and he still had to speak with the demon, but if they could do it without being angry, it would be easier to get through.

By the time they had finished eating and the plates had been cleared away, the sun was starting to sink beneath the horizon and the diner was almost emptied of patrons. It hadn't been particularly busy when they had first come in, but in the time it took them to eat they ended up being one of three tables left in the entire establishment. It was always interesting how wait-staff acted in a mostly empty restaurant. Conversations were louder than they would have been and things that usually would not have happened did. That played a large part in why the oddly enjoyable quiet that had settled between the two men was suddenly shattered by a loud pop of air and an explosion of neon green over the side of Kilik's head. In the immediate instant after the incident, both Siegfried and Kilik were completely still. Of the two, Siegfried was the first to recover; it started with a slow grin that spilled into laughter at the surprised look on Kilik's face.

Chocolate brown eyes blinked once, twice... three times, and his mouth opened, closed, opened again to finally ask, "...what was that?"

"Oh my God!" Their waiter ran over, long bony hands covering his face in embarrassment, "I am so sorry! I totally did not mean to do that! I thought the safety was on!"

"Uh..." was Kilik's intelligent response as he gingerly touched his face then pulled his fingers back to look at them and the green paint on there.

After a couple tries, Siegfried was able to get one word out between laughs, "Paintball!"

"Yeah," the kid squeaked out from behind his hands, still very embarrassed. "I compete and I was showing off my new gun and I thought the safety was on... but it wasn't."

"Clearly," the monk said with a sigh. He didn't have to have heard that phrase before to know that paintball involved shooting paint at each other, or to wonder why anyone would find that enjoyable. With a sigh, Kilik stood and said, "Don't worry about it. Accidents happen. I'm going to go try to wash this off."

He could hear Siegfried, sounding way too happy about what just happened for Kilik's liking, talking to the kid and reassuring him that it was fine. And hilarious. Brown eyes rolled at that.

The bathroom smelt like heavy disinfectants. The tiles on the floor and walls were bleached white. So was the counter. Of the two sinks there, one was dripping a steady stream of water and the other was off. Both had shiny metal faucets. It would have been too neat to be a public restroom if it weren't for the soap dispenser between the two sinks that was slowly dripping liquid soap into the small puddle of the stuff that had collected on the counter or the fact that they were out of paper towels. It seemed to be some kind of conspiracy of restaurants to always be out of paper towels.

With a sigh, the Asian man turned the dripping faucet on all the way, leaned over, and stuck his head under the running water. It was cold enough to send a shiver down his spine. Neon green paint mingled with water and swirled down the drain. Kilik didn't lift his head out of the water until he felt enough time had passed for it to all be gone.

A look in the mirror revealed that there was still paint clinging to his hair and a little left on his face. With a sigh, the Asian man pumped some soap into his hand and started rubbing it in his hair and on the parts of his face that still had paint. Once he was satisfied that there was enough soap to get the job done, he leaned over to run water over his face again. He had to keep his eyes closed that time to keep soap from getting in them and stinging. It wasn't especially comfortable, but that didn't much matter.

The sound of someone entering the bathroom was ignored. They could either deal with that fact that there was a guy washing neon green off of himself in the sink or they could leave. Kilik didn't care which happened. It really wasn't his problem. His problems included a demon he didn't quite understand, a blond who didn't return his feelings, two sentient blades trying to take his body, a drunkard room mate, a kid from his past who hated him, and the remaining paint on his head. Of them all, the paint was the easiest to deal with and quite possibly the only one he could really do anything about without second guessing himself or having to think about feelings. That, in and of itself, was kind of sad.

The footsteps of the other man in the bathroom were heavy and stopped right behind him. Before Kilik could get up and turn around- with some snarky comment about whether or not this man has seen anyone bathe in a sink before- a large hand fell upon his back, pinning him down. Kilik braced his hands on the counter and tried to push his torso up. When it didn't work, he tried harder. Frantically.

He didn't need to hear the deep chuckle behind him to know who it was behind him, keeping his head under the running water. The only consolation Kilik could find in the situation was that he wasn't being drowned. At least there was that.

There was a sudden heat along the monk's spine as the demon leaned over him to murmur into his ear, "I think I like you like this." This was followed by him reaching forward with his free hand and turning the water off.

Kilik growled, trying to push himself up despite the hopelessness in it.

"No, no," the demon tsked in his ear, pushing down harder with his hand. It made the monk's chest hurt, and they both knew it. They both knew that, if he wanted to, the demon could push down hard enough that things would start breaking. If he applied enough pressure and never let up, Kilik's lungs wouldn't have room to expand. He wouldn't be able to breath. The monk stilled. He could feel a chuckle, deeper than anything he had ever heard from Siegfried, vibrating all through his body from their closeness and each word as the demon purred out, "Good boy."

"What do you want?" the smaller of the two growled out. He may have been in a more vulnerable position but he sure as shit didn't like it and everything he could do to make that apparent was good enough for the time being.

His tone earned him a chuckle from the demon, "Don't ruin this moment by talking, **worm**, unless you have something to say that I'll appreciate."

Nightmare was still draped over him. If what Kilik felt pressing against his backside was any indication, the other man was very happy with things. A shiver ran through the small frame of the Asian at that. It wasn't excitement. It was fear. Somehow, he got the feeling Nightmare knew that and liked it better than he would if it was wanted attention. The fear was probably why the demon hadn't pulled the chunk of his taint to the surface and forced Kilik to be more _open_ to the situation.

"You know," the demon continued casually, as though he wasn't pinning a very unwilling monk to the counter of a public restroom, "Listening to the two of you is so boring. If I didn't plan on using you against each other, I wouldn't bother allowing it."

The brunette rolled his eyes at that, his annoyance making the fear easier to push aside, "Telling your enemy your plans now? Sloppy, even for a demon."

More pressure forced onto his frame was the response, along with another chuckle he could feel vibrating through his frame. Nightmare gave a small tsk and murmured, "I know you'll keep yourself from hurting this one whether you know I'll use it against you or not. Besides," the word was followed by a sharp and immediate pain as Nightmare bit down on Kilik's ear. It made the monk's breath catch in his throat as a spark seemed to shoot through his spine. He had to hold back any responses at that. The demon must have known, because he chuckled while continuing, "You're going to be my servant before this little story plays out completely. My new body, even."

Strong arms pushed against the force holding him down, but Kilik found he still could not move. It didn't seem to matter how hard he tried, so he tried harder. It was ineffectual. "No!" the Chinese orphan growled, "You figured out what I've done to keep from being Soul Calibur's vessel; what makes you think you're going to be any more successful, demon?!"

"Ask your room mate."

Kilik froze, eyes wide. "He's off limits," the monk growled. He couldn't properly glare at the demon, so he settled for glaring up at the mirror as best he could from his position. He had been avoiding looking at the glass until that point, not wanting to see the scene the two of them made. It was beyond disgraceful to be stuck in that situation.

"You don't make that choice," the demon hissed into his ear. "He made that choice long before I had this body to play with." Nightmare spoke lowly, and Kilik had to wonder if Siegfreid's voice would have been able to hit such a pitch without the demon's influence, "He told me a very interesting story while you were hiding in the shower, monk. Do you want to know that it was about?"

No. Kilik didn't want to know. Part of him already had it figured out. He didn't know if he could stand to hear it said out loud. His eyes shut as though that would somehow change anything. "You're lying!" His anger showed in his voice and the way his body tensed, "Maxi has nothing to do with any of this! He never has and he never will!"

That made Nightmare laugh; a deep and threatening sound that rolled through Kilik's body and echoed in the part of his soul that answered to its dark master. He pushed down on Kilik's back with one hand and grabbed the Asian's soft brown hair in the other, forcing his head to turn. "I enjoyed the sight of you watching me behind you," the demon growled. "**Look at me!**" Despite himself, Kilik's eyes opened and glared at the reflection that looked so much like Siegfried, but wasn't. It was as though there was another outline laid over the German, thin and transparent, of something old and horrible. A reflection of the beast. It was grinning at him. "There we go." His grip on Kilik's hair loosened as he cooed at his captive, "Good boy. Now stay quiet and listen."

Kilik's only response was to glare up at the figure behind him. There wasn't much else to do at the moment. He could have purified the demon, but he didn't want to hurt Siegfried. That fact alone was detrimental to his mission. It also put him in more danger than his instincts of self-preservation should have allowed. Angry brown eyes glared into the glass of the mirror, daring the demon with his gaze to say anything.

Nightmare wasn't intimidated in the slightest. "Now," he began, the laughter dancing in his voice, "I've got a story for my good little monk. Your room mate is more than he appears to be. He hails from Japan and is the son of a murdered man. He was hired to watch over you. Protect you. One day, they said they would contact him. Tell him where to lead you. They just needed to find me first. Do you understand?"

It felt as though his heart had stopped beating. Or maybe it had shattered? Kilik couldn't have been sure. His chest hurt while managing to feel numb and his mind couldn't comprehend it. Push the emotion back. Deal with it later. Facts first. It was a coping mechanism. "No," Kilik answered, voice soft. "That doesn't make sense." He sounded as empty as he suddenly felt. Years. He had spent years with his room mate. He had been so grateful! So ashamed of his inability to repay Maxi for the kindness he had shown to some Chinese runt he had never met before! "We don't lie to each other like that."

The phrase drew a sharp bark of laughter from the demon that made Kilik's breath catch in his throat. "Oh?" Nightmare gave the monk's soft brown hair a sharp tug, "You never told him about the temple or the blood on your hands! You never told him who that woman you visited in the crazy house was! You never told him about me! You did **nothing** but lie to him!"

"No!" Kilik yelled back, trying to push himself up once more. It was as useless as it had been before.

"Lying by omission is still lying!" the demon hissed. That it was coming from Siegfried's mouth, using his voice, made it worse for the captive monk. "Not that he was any better! He was going to lead you to them so they could sacrifice you to me!" A dark grin that made Kilik shiver overtook Siegfried's face as the demon purred, "Not that I would mind being inside of you..." He was pressing his hips against Kilik's ass, letting the other man know just how happy he was to be there. He gave a low chuckle, knowing that the darkness in the smaller man reacted to the affections of the master. Too bad Kilik had the self control to keep it from showing on his face or in his body.

That's when it made sense. Maxi was many things, but Kilik knew that he wasn't as cold-hearted as the demon made him out to be. The other man simply did not have that kind of darkness within him. The way he looked when he talked about family... how he worried for Kilik's safey... "...they're threatening his family..." the monk whispered in sudden realization.

"So I've heard," Nightmare grinned, "And you aren't going to let him suffer through the loss of his family, are you? You're too fond of him for that." He nibbled at the monk's ear, enjoying the surprised gasp the action earned him. "This body can't hold me forever. We both know this. Siegfried will probably know it when he starts to whither and die. You don't want that and you don't want Maxi to get hurt."

Kilik's throat suddenly felt dry. He couldn't stop the small tremors that shivered through his form. He didn't want to hear the words he knew were coming. He had spent his life trying to avoid becoming the puppet of one blade; to become the puppet of another... His mouth opened, suddenly feeling as though he couldn't quite get enough air.

"That's right," Nightmare purred. "I believe you and I should have a little talk about our future together."


End file.
